The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs
by Skoolgrl09
Summary: Sequel to " To Private's Eyes".Skipper and Marlene run into obstacle courses starting with their first date, which could easily destroy their love relationship. Can the pair conquer them and stay together? Hope so.Rating varies. Brief violence.Chap 15 up
1. Chapter 1

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Hello readers and welcome to the sequel to " To Private's Eyes". Remember, there will be more than one lead role character in the plot, perhaps more than two, in this story as it goes. BTW: There will also be some small splashes of PrivateXMother duck and KowalskiXDoris here and there, later on in the story. Anyways. Please enjoy. Thank-you for reading this message.

Chapter 1

It was a glorious night at "The Manhattan Restaurant/ Dance Club", which was a popular place to go to for

the animals of New York City. Skipper and Marlene were both sitting in regular chairs, at a round table, with

a white tablecloth on it. They were at a full service restaurant, which meant that the prices for their meals

would be cheaper than the ones at fine dining restaurants. Both were enjoying the meals that they were

eating, after they had paid for them. Marlene had the clam salad, while Skipper had the Halibut special.

Soon, the couple had began talking. " So," Skipper began, swallowing one of the Halibut's on his plate. "

How do you like this place? Is it too fancy? Classy? Simple?"

" As long as I'm with you, it's perfect," Marlene smiled then took a bite out of her salad.

Skipper smiled back. He could not believe that he and Marlene were finally out on their first date together. It

was a miracle. Suddenly, Skipper felt a slight feeling underneath his stomach. " Excuse me for a second,"

Skipper stated as he stood up from his chair. " Nature's giving me a call and I have to answer it."

" Alright," Marlene looked up at Skipper as he waddled over, kissed her on the cheek, then headed toward

the male's room. Marlene watched him dreamily as he closed the bathroom door behind him. As soon as

Skipper left, a strange, regularly muscular figure approached the table.

" Marlene," the figure said in a thick, but understandable Latin accent. " Marlene is that you?"

Marlene turned around, startled for a few seconds then knew who it was, right away. " Ramone," Marlene's

eyes widened at the sight of a solid, dark brown Asian Otter, with green eyes, and a black moustache where

his whiskers should be. " What are you doing here in New York City?"_ You better not have come all the way _

_o__ver __here just to see me, __after I specifically told you not to follow me here._

" I came all the way from Northern California to see you, my love," Ramone stated romantically, holding out

a red rose, which he had pulled out from behind his back.

" Ramone," Marlene groaned, glaring at him. " How many times must I tell you? I'm not your love, anymore."

" Oh, you and your jokes, Marlene," Ramone chuckled, grabbing her paw then kissing it. " You make me

laugh."

" It's not a joke, Ramone," Marlene narrowed her eyes, yanking her paw back from Ramone. " It's the truth

and I'm not ever coming back to you. Okay?"

" But, Marlene," Ramone shrugged pleadingly. " Why? Why won't you come back to me?"

" I could give you a thousand reasons why not to come back to you," Marlene snarled, folding her arms. "

And you not taking me seriously is one of them. Now get out of here before my real boyfriend comes back

and sees you."

" Boyfriend," Ramone raised an eyebrow, curiously. " Who is this real boyfriend, in which you speak of?"

" None of your business," Marlene then pointed her finger toward the exit door of the restaurant. " Now

get!"

" Oh? I see how you are," Ramone chuckled, again. " You're just saying that you have a real boyfriend,

because you are afraid to admit that you're still in love with me. Very clever." Just then Ramone wrapped his

arms around Marlene then dipped her, like he was performing the ending of a dance.

" What are you doing," Marlene screamed. " Did you not hear what I just said?" Suddenly, Ramone kissed

Marlene on the lips. Soon, Skipper waddled out of the bathroom and stumbled across the scene that was

happening between Marlene and Ramone. Skipper stood there, shocked. His heart began sinking as his

eyes began flooding with tears. This was exactly the same scene that he stumbled upon when he had

caught Lola cheating on him. Eventually, he ran out of the restaurant, not even being noticed by any of the

otters.

During the kiss, Marlene had slapped Ramone across the face, causing him to drop her onto the floor. "

Don't...do that...ever..., again," Marlene growled, picking herself up off of the ground. _Gosh._ _Where's Skipper, _

_when I need his help getting rid of this guy?_

" But, Marlene," Ramone rubbed his sore cheek and held his arms out. " We were made for each other?"

" Not anymore, we're not," Marlene snarled as she stomped on Ramone's foot, causing him to grab it in pain.

He now balanced on one foot and hopped around, yelping loudly. Marlene grabbed her plate of clam salad

and smashed it on the top of his head. She then spun him around several times and sent him crashing into a

couple of other animals, who were dancing on the dance floor. Marlene hastily walked up to her chair and

sat in it. She folded her arms as she waited for Skipper to come back. Soon, closing time was near and

everybody had left the restaurant and went home, except for the employees and Marlene. Marlene was

starting to get worried. Three hours had passed by and the penguin still did not come out. Skipper had

never stayed in the bathroom that long before. Suddenly, a janitorial male, orange, tabby cat, with one blue

eye and one green eye, and some fur missing on his tail, went in and came out of the male's bathroom.

Marlene walked up to him, hoping he could help. " Excuse me, Sir," Marlene said with a hint of concern in her

voice. " Was there by any chance a short, flat headed penguin, with sapphire blue eyes, and a black bowtie

on in there?"

" Sorry, lady," the cat shrugged as he held a bucket in one of his paws and a mop in the other. " The place

is empty. "

" Empty," Marlene raised an eyebrow. " But I saw him go in there. Do you think you can check one more

time, please?"

" Look, lady," the cat stated firmly. " I just cleaned every stall there is in there and there's not a soul in

sight. Now go home. I've got work to do. Wait a minute. Did you say penguin?"

" Yes," Marlene clasped her paws together tightly. " You've seen him?"

" Yeah," the cat nodded his head. " He was with a group of three other penguins a while back, ago. They

crash landed on a building I live on. You're not going to believe this, but they thought that they were on the

moon. What a laugh? Flightless birds are so funny, but they did give me sardines as a gift though. Now that

you mention it, that one flightest bird you just described asked me for a pen, paper, and some tape earlier,

for some strange reason, while I was outside, cleaning the windows."

" Hold up. You've met Skipper before," Marlene raised an eyebrow.

" A couple of times, yes," the cat retorted. " But I haven't seen him since I washed the windows, plus I don't

know where he went after that. By the way, if you find that penguin that you're looking for, tell him that he

needs to give me my pen back, please. It's the only pen that I had left that actually worked."

" What's your name," Marlene asked curiously.

" The name's Max," Max replied, setting down the mop bucket then holding out his paw. " Pleasure to meet

you…"

" Marlene," Marlene replied, shaking his paw. " And thanks for your help, Max."

" No problem, " Max retorted. The two released each other's grips and Max picked up the mop bucket off of

the floor. " Well time to clean the kitchen. See ya, Marlene." Max waved as he walked off toward the kitchen.

" See ya, Max," Marlene waved then walked outside of the restaurant. When she went outside, she saw a

note taped to a bicycle stand. Marlene grabbed the note then noticed that it had water spots on it, but it

had not rained, at all, today. She opened the note and began to read it silently in her head. Marlene gasped

harder as she read on, further and further. The note said mournfully with Skipper's voice inside of her head:

" _Marlene,_

_I don't know exactly what to think of you after what I saw tonight. Anyways. I hope that you're happy with him._

_, Skipper_

_P.S.: If you're wondering why there are water drops on the paper? They are my tears from when you broke my _

_heart. Anyways. Don't even bother to apologize, look me up, or even break up with me, because by the time you _

_read this note, I've already broken up with you. Plus, I don't want to see you ever again, not after what you've _

_done to me. I'm sorry, Marlene. I just can't deal with stuff like this anymore. My heart can't take it. I guess, we _

_weren't meant to be together, after all. Any who. Farewell, Marlene."_

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Oh, no! Skipper's ran off, thinking that Marlene cheated on him. I'm not gonna cry. I'm not gonna cry. GAH!( puts hands up defensively) Not in the face! Remember? The title says " The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs" and that was one of the downs. Don't worry though, one of the ups will be on it's way soon. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 2. Catch Marlene's full reaction to Skipper's note. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: I added Max as a link to help move the story to it's current place and eventually lead it back to an "up" from there, plus the janitorial job seemed to fit the cat a little more. Another thing, I made up the Manhattan Restaurant/ Dance Club. It's suppose to be a restaurant ran by animals and it is just for animals. LOL. Anyways, I made it up, because it would be easier for the animals to go out to eat without having to deal with or be chased out by humans. Anyways. Thank-you for reading this message.


	2. Chapter 2

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were awesome. Now here's the next chapter. I know that I had just barely put up the first chapter yesterday, but I couldn't wait any longer, either. LOL. Warning: I may revise this chapter, again. Anyways: Please enjoy.

Chapter 2

Marlene finished reading the letter and clutched her chest tightly with her paw, trying to breathe, but at the

same time, trying to hold back her tears. She could not believe Skipper thought she was cheating on him.

Worst of all, he did not say where he had gone, in the note, either, but she had a hunch.

On his way back to the Central Park Zoo, Skipper was lost deep in his thoughts, thinking about Marlene.

While he was thinking, he decided to take a long way back home, by waddling around Manhattan for a few

hours to help clear his head, before heading back to the zoo. After he had reached the zoo and started

heading towards the penguin habitat, Skipper's eyes had formed tears, again, and he began crying, loudly,

disturbing the neighboring zoo animals. Once he had reached the habitat, he jumped onto the platform from

the fence. He wiped his eyes, after he had jumped onto the platform, before going inside through the

fishbowl entrance, to avoid blinding himself and falling down the ladder. After Skipper had gone inside, he

remained silent, over by the ladder, to avoid disturbing his team. Luckily, for him, Private was zoned into the

movie " The Fox and the Hound", which he had felt like watching, since he had mentioned it to the other

penguins, earlier, Rico was sound asleep in his bunk, which was second to the top, and Kowalski was sitting

at the table, still working on his shrink ray.

Upon feeling overworked, Kowalski turned around to take a break and noticed that Skipper was back from

his date. He quickly approached his leader, quietly, to avoid distracting the others, too. " So," Kowalski

whispered to Skipper as he waddled over to meet him, by the ladder. " How did your date go?" Skipper

still kept silent, trying to hold back his tears. Kowalski got a closer at him and stopped when he noticed that

the lead penguins eyes were watery, red, and irritated. He soon began to worry and wondered what had

happened.

" Marlene cheated on me," Skipper uttered out softly then covered his eyes. He began crying quietly.

" She cheated on you," Kowalski raised an eyebrow, shocked, then laid a flipper on Skipper's shoulder. " But

why? I thought she was in love with you."

" Not anymore, she isn't," Skipper sniffled as he looked up from his flippers, tears strolling down his

cheeks. " She found somebody else of her own species."

" Another Asian Otter," Kowalski questioned then Skipper nodded his head. " When did this happen?"

" I'd rather not talk about it, right now," Skipper wiped the tears out of his eyes with his flippers.

Suddenly, from behind " Private's First Prize", which was hanging on the wall, caddy-corner from the bunks,

the lemurs popped out and hopped onto the floor. They all yawned and stretched as they remained in front

of the tunnel. " What is with all of the noises of crying," King Julien yawned, again, and scratched himself on

his side.

" Sorry," Kowalski replied apologetically as Skipper turned his head toward the ladder, shielding his eyes. "

It was an emergency."

" What kind of an emergency," Maurice raised an eyebrow then looked over at Skipper, pointing a finger. "

And why is he not scolding us for being here?"

" That's because he is the emergency," Kowalski raised his voice. Skipper pushed Kowalski's flipper away,

waddled over to the table, and sat down on one of the smaller blocks, which was used as a chair. He

covered his eyes, again, and sulked to himself. Kowalski waddled over to where the lemurs were at and

explained what Skipper had told to him. Just then, Marlene jumped through the fishbowl entrance and

landed on the floor. The lemurs and Kowalski gave her a glare after she came into the headquarters.

Anger suddenly built up in Skipper as he heard Marlene begin to talk. He had just told her, in the note, not

to come after him, but she did it anyway.

" There you are," Marlene shouted worriedly. " I've been looking for you and… Why are you guys looking at

me like that?"

" You should know very well why," Kowalski folded his flippers as he approached Marlene, who was

standing over by the ladder.

" Look. I can explain. Okay," Marlene turned away from Kowalski and went over to Skipper. " Skipper? About

what you saw back at the restaurant, that was not what you thought you saw. I swear." Skipper folded his

flippers as he turned away from Marlene. " Will you listen to me, please," the lead penguin remained silent

then grumbled something to himself. " Okay? If you're not going to listen, will you please at least say

something?" Suddenly, Skipper got up from his seat at the table then stormed off through the hallway

door, slamming it hard. Soon, he ran down the hall, locked himself in the bathroom, which was off to the left

side of the hallway, and began to cry, again.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Marlene stood staring at the door, with a surprised look on her face. She was

about ready to collapse onto the floor, crying, but did not, because she did not want to alarm anybody

around her.

Private, who was still watching the television had overheard what Marlene had said to Skipper. " Marlene,"

Private raised an eyebrow, turning his head toward the otter. " What exactly did Skipper see to make him

so angry at you?"

" You're too young to be told about this stuff, right now, Private. Sorry," Marlene mumbled, still trying to hold

back her tears as she kept a watchful eye on the door. Eventually, one of the tears had escaped and

strolled down the side of her face. She wiped it off quickly, before anybody could spot it.

" I'll handle this," Kowalski climbed up the ladder, toward Rico's bunk, and tapped the manic penguin on the

shoulder, waking him up. " Rico, why don't you take Private over to the mother duck's place for a while? She

looks like she could use some help keeping an eye on her ducklings." Rico nodded his head drowsily,

jumped onto the floor, waddled up to Private, and dragged him by one of his flippers. The two penguins

soon started to leave toward the fishbowl entrance, but were interrupted by a voice.

" And please to be taking Mort with you," King Julien stated as he pushed Mort toward the two penguins. "

Otherwise, he will not be shutting up about this like he did when the silly penguin and otter made kissy-

kisses, earlier."

Rico nodded his head then climbed up the ladder with Private and Mort. The three of them quickly exited

through the fishbowl entrance. As soon as they were gone, the others gathered around Marlene. Kowalski

began asking her questions. " So," the tall penguin pondered curiously, looking at Marlene. " What exactly

happened between you two?" Marlene told him and the lemurs the entire story. When she was done telling

them, all of their mouths were agape. Soon, Kowalski spoke up, still shocked at what he had just heard.

" So that's who that other Asian Otter was," Kowalski squeaked. " He was your ex-boyfriend?"

" Yes," Marlene responded firmly then folded her arms. " And not a very bright one, either. He thinks that

whatever I say is the opposite of what I mean. But what he doesn't get is what I mean, is exactly the same

as what I say. But then, again, he's always been that way with everybo..."

" Please, stop to be confusing me," King Julien shouted, rubbing the temples on his head. " You are not to

be sense making, here."

" King Julien," Maurice stated in a matter-of-fact tone. " She means that he gets her words twisted around

and thinks that when she says " no", she means " yes", which is probably why she broke up with him."

" Oh," King Julien yawned as he covered his mouth. " Alright? Carry on."

" Marlene, if I were you, I'd go and talk to Skipper, right now," Kowalski stated firmly. " The sooner you two

get this whole mess sorted out, the better."

" I don't know, Kowalski," Marlene took a finger to her chin. " He didn't even listen to me earlier when I

approached him. What makes you think that he'll listen to me now?"

" Trust me," Kowalski smiled, encouragingly. " I just know. I knew Skipper, ever since our days with the

down feathers and believe me, he will listen to you as long as you stay persistent. That's how I got him to

listen to me, when he was having trouble trying to go over to your habitat to ask you out on a date. So

what do you say, Marlene? Will you please try talking to him?"

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Wow. Skipper is stubborn. I can't believe he didn't take the time to listen to Marlene. Then again, he is still upset, so, I'll let that one slide,... for now. BTW: An " Up" should be coming up really, really soon, sometime in the next chapter.I promise. Sorry. I didn't want to squeeze this " Up" into the story, just yet, since I like to keep my chapters to stories at certain lengths and leave cliffhangers. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 3. Catch Marlene's answer to Kowalski's question. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW : This is not supposed to be a Soap Opera. LOL. If it seems like it's turning into one, just warn me, because I would like to avoid that area as much as possible. Thank-you for reading this message.


	3. Chapter 3

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were fantastic. Now here's the next chapter and the "up" that I promised. Please enjoy. Warning: I may revise this chapter, again.

Chapter 3

" Okay," Marlene sighed in defeat. " I'll go talk to him." She walked up to the door and opened it up to the

hallway. From there, she went inside and started heading down the hall, until she ran across the bathroom.

Marlene took a deep breath as she heard Skipper's crying then knocked on the door. " Skipper," the otter

spoke softly. " It's me. Marlene."

" Marlene," Skipper sniffled then made his voice firm. " Haven't you already tormented me enough?"

" I'm not here to torment you, Skipper," Marlene raised her voice. " I'm here, because I have something very

important to tell you that you really need to hear."

" How important," Skipper said curiously.

" Extremely important," Marlene said in a concerned tone. " As in something's at state here." Suddenly, she

heard footsteps come toward the door. Skipper had unlocked it and waddled away. Marlene opened it and

went inside. After she went in, she saw Skipper sitting on the toilet with the seat cover down. He looked up

at her with a mournful expression on his face as she approached him. Skipper then looked down at his feet,

twiddling with his sat down on the edge of the bathtub, beside Skipper and looked at him.

She noticed that his eyes were read and irritated, along wetness on his face, but chose not say anything

about it.

" Okay," Skipper muttered then looked up at Marlene. " What is it that is so important? And if it has to do

anything with that other otter, you had better not say anything, because I already know that you're dumping

me for him."

" I am not dumping you for him," Marlene inquired as she put her paw on his shoulder. " To tell you the truth,

I dumped him several months ago, before I had even come here."

" Hold up," Skipper raised an eyebrow. " You knew that guy and you used to date him?"

" Well, sadly, yes," Marlene stuttered. " I did date him for a while, back in Northern California, but things did

not work out between us as well as we thought. You see? Ramone's always had a way of twisting words

around and not taking things seriously. Which is why I dumped him in the first place."

" Oh," Skipper replied, guiltily, lowering his eyebrows. " How did he take it? The dumping part?"

" Not too well, I guess," Marlene shrugged. " When I told him, he just smiled at me, nodded his head, and

said " whatever you say, my love". Apparently, he thought I was joking, still thought we were dating, and

came all the way over here, just to find me, so he could kiss me."

" Wow," Skipper raised an eyebrow. " I take it he's obsessive over you?"

" Yes," Marlene grumbled. " And it infuriated me that he came over to the table, unexpectedly, while you

were in the bathroom. Which reminds me. Why didn't you do anything to him after you saw him with me?"

" Well," Skipper thought to himself before speaking. " To tell you the truth, when I saw you two kiss, it made

me think back to my honeymoon with Lola, when she cheated on me with a Capuchin Monkey."

" Hold up," Marlene took her paw off of Skipper's shoulder then pointed at him. " Lola cheated on you? That

bobble head doll, that Private mentioned to me earlier, cheated...on you?"

" Yes," Skipper mumbled. " And I was so upset and heartbroken that I didn't know what else to do except

run off and cry. Just like I did when I saw you with that "Raisin" guy." Marlene giggled as Skipper continued,

softening up his voice. " You see? After being in the military, I got used to physical hits and attacking back,

right away. But when it came to emotional hits, while living an everyday life… Well, the military didn't

prepare me for that. Instead, they tried to train me just to ignore and numb emotions, but for some reason I

just couldn't. Which would probably explain why I didn't know what to do when I saw that "Ragu" guy kissing

you… You must think that I'm pretty weak for doing that, huh?"

" Wow. No wonder you ran off," Marlene raised an eyebrow before putting her paw back on Skipper's

shoulder. " Skipper? If there's ever a problem that is bugging you, don't be afraid to talk to me about it, plus,

what you did earlier, by running off and crying, was perfectly fine and understandable to do and it proved to

me that you're not really the jealous type."

Skipper raised both of his eyebrows with surprise. " It does," he stared into her chocolate, brown eyes.

" Yes, Skipper," Marlene gave an assuring smile as she stared back. " It does. Which gives me all the more

reason to keep dating you."

" Wow," Skipper chuckled with a little bit of joy in his voice. " Really?"

" Does this answer your question," Marlene stated as she leaned forward and kissed Skipper on the end of

his beak. Skipper reacted naturally then kissed back. Just then, Kowalski, King Julien, and Maurice walked into

the bathroom to check up on the couple, to make sure that they were not going to tear each other apart.

They all froze as they entered the bathroom and widened their eyes.

Kowalski tapped the tips of his flippers together, thinking. He curled up one of his flippers and made a

coughing noise into it. Upon hearing the cough, the couple both widened their eyes then pulled apart. Both of

them turned their heads toward the group, which was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, and stared.

Kowalski remained silent for another moment then spoke up." Kissing and making up, are we," he folded his

flippers as he smiled. The couple chuckled upon hearing the question, but were both embarrassed that the

others, in the habitat, had barged in on them and seen them kiss. Well, that is what they get for not

bothering to close the door, the couple thought.

" Yeah," Skipper smiled, while blushing underneath his feathers. " You can say that. I

guess?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Yay! Skipper and Marlene are finally back together. Whoo!Hoo! Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 4. Catch what happens after Skipper and Marlene get back together. Please stay tuned and find out more.


	4. Chapter 4

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were awesome. Now here's the next chapter.I know that I'm posting new chapters faster than I usually do, but that's because I had just completed the sequel to " Skipper's Skipper", which now leaves me more time to work on this story. Warning: I may revise this chapter, again. Please enjoy.

Chapter 4

Skipper glanced over at Marlene, who smiled at him. " Good," King Julien stretched and yawned. " If anyone

is to be needing me, I will to being sleeping on my bouncy-bounce house. Goodnight." The lemur king exited

off to his home, with Maurice following not too far behind.

Maurice stopped for a moment, just outside of the bathroom door then turned to Skipper and Marlene. "

Since you two are done arguing," the Aye-Aye raised an eyebrow. " Do you want me to send Private and Rico

back here?"

" Sure. Go ahead," Skipper responded, shrugging. Maurice nodded his head then followed King Julien outside,

leaving the other three behind to talk. King Julien went straight back to the lemur habitat and collapsed on

his bounce house, snoring loudly. Meanwhile, Maurice stopped by where the mother duck lived, along with

her ducklings, and walked towards the group, which was sitting over by the bushes.

Private was busy trying to talk to the mother duck, while helping her and Rico keep the ducklings asleep by

rocking them and, or singing lullabies. " So…um," Private stuttered nervously, as he was rocking one of the

ducklings, gently in his flippers. " H…how often w… would you say that you n…need an extra wing to…w…

watch your d…ducklings?"

" Almost everyday," the mother duck muttered as she rocked one of the other ducklings, gently. " But, I'm

used to watching them full-time by myself."

" Why is that," Private raised an eyebrow.

" Well to tell you the truth, Private, I," the mother duck stammered, but was cut off by Maurice.

" Private? Rico," Maurice walked up to the penguins. " Everything is okay. You can go back home now."

" Alright," Private responded in his normal tone. " Thank-you, Maurice."

" Don't mention it," Maurice stated kindly then headed straight for the lemur habitat. " Goodnight."

Private said good-bye back and turned to Rico, who groaned then set the duckling down in the nest, which

was hidden in a bush. Private did the same thing as Rico did. Neither of them wanted to leave the mother

duck's place, but they had to. " Come on, Rico," the young penguin barked. " Let's go home." Rico groaned,

again, then waddled over to Private. Private turned to the mother duck as a blush creeped upon his face. "

Well, I…I guess this means goodbye, then," the young penguin stuttered nervously. " A…at least,

until...morning. Th...that is if you're not d...doing anything, that is."

" Nonsense. The only thing that I'll be doing is taking care of the ducklings," the mother duck retorted with a

smile then paused. " Well, see you in the morning and thanks for stopping by. I really needed the extra

help."

" N…no problem," Private waved good-bye as he and Rico began waddling back to the headquarters. The

mother duck waved back and went back to watching her ducklings. After the two penguins had gone inside

the headquarters, through the fishbowl entrance, they saw that Skipper and Kowalski were still awake,

standing over by the table, talking. Marlene had already finished talking to Skipper, made plans, and went

home to sleep. Neither Skipper nor Kowalski had noticed that Private and Rico had entered the headquarters.

" I feel like such an idiot, after tonight," Skipper grumbled softly.

" Why," Kowalski raised a curious eyebrow. " You got Marlene back. Didn't you?"

" Yes, but still, I almost lost her over some, ridiculous misunderstanding," Skipper raised his voice.

" But you won her back by listening to her. Not to mention that you both accepted each other's apologies,"

Kowalski stated reasonably. " That, and you agreed to help Marlene make brunch at her place in the morning

and get to finish your date with her later."

" That was just a stroke of luck, Kowalski," Skipper glared at the tall penguin. " I might not get that chance,

again, the next time I act like that around her."

" Why must you be so negative," Kowalski raised his voice. " Look. Before you start assuming anything, just

remember to approach the problem carefully with questions. Alright?"

" Kowalski," Skipper muttered irritably and folded his flippers. " My brain is not trained to do that."

" Wow," Private widened his eyes as he and Rico waddled up to the two penguins. " You can train your

brain? How much would that cost?" Kowalski and Skipper froze as they were approached. They had no idea

that they were listening in on them. Well, Rico they did not mind, because he was older, but as for Private, he

was still at an age to where he really did not understand relationships, yet, let alone how they worked.

" Private," Skipper began slowly, standing still with a nervous expression on his face. " How long have you

been standing there?"

" Ever since you said that you felt like an idiot," Private responded quickly then raised an eyebrow. " Why?"

" No reason," Skipper smiled. " Come on. We should all get to bed. It's getting late, or should I say really

early, in the morning. " Soon, all of the penguins climbed into their bunks and relaxed as the room quieted

down. As soon as it did, Skipper began speaking, again, but in a calm,but curious tone. " So," he rested his

flippers behind his head and leaned back on his pillow. " How was your time at the mother duck's place?"

" Wonderful, I guess," Private responded, unsurely. " But, I don't know how to say what I want to say to

her."

" What is it that you want to say to her," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" I don't know," Private squeaked. " I can't really describe it."

" Ah, tongue-tied," Kowalski cut in, from his bunk at the very top, talking in a matter-of-fact tone. " That's

perfectly natural when talking to the opposite gender, in which you are attracted to. Though it does sound

correct, you should exercise caution when forcing your tongue to become untied. Otherwise, disaster may

strike. Though by waiting for the right moment, the tongue may untie itself, and will make everything fall into

place, no matter how the words project themselves. "

" Kowalski, what are you talking about," Private lowered his eyebrows, feeling confused, as the sound of

Rico's loud snore filled the air.

" I told Kowalski about your crush on the mother duck, earlier," Skipper retorted swiftly then paused before

speaking, again. " He means that it's okay if you can't think of the right words to say, in the given moment to

the girl that you're in love with. Take for example, Kowalski trying to talk to Doris the dolphin. Right,

Kowalski?"

" Right," Kowalski responded, thinkingm then spoke to Private. " And, no matter what I do, I still can't find the

right words to say to her, just like you can't find the right words to say to the mother duck. Maybe, if I write

them down and rehearse what I want to say? That might work."

" Or you could do what I did? Write them down in a diary and have Private send them without your

permission," Skipper added with a chuckle. " That's how Marlene knew how I felt about her."

" Yeah, but that occurred unexpectedly to you, Skipper," Kowalski raised an eyebrow as he yawned. " You

had no idea that that was even coming."

" True," Skipper responded with thought. " Anyways. Private, when the words come out, they come out on

their own. Maybe not in perfect order, but at least it's something, plus you can't force them. Trust me. I know.

I've shouted out awkward things to girls that I liked and it turned out pretty bad."

" What am I suppose to do then, Skipper," Private questioned worriedly as he covered his beak, while

yawning.

" Just relax and be the best you that you could possibly be. Girls like that," Skipper stated confidently then

yawned. " Well, goodnight." The lead penguin fell asleep, right away, and snored louder than the other

penguins ever could.

Private yawned one more time. " Goodnight," he stared at the top part of his bunk for a few seconds before

speaking, again. " Hey, Kowalski?"

" Yes, Private," Kowalski responded drowsily. He was drifting off to sleep.

" Since we are both having trouble talking to girls that we like. Do you think that we can possibly help each

other out," Private waited patiently for Kowalski to answer. Soon, he heard soft snoring. " Kowalski," the

young penguin peeked out from his bunk to find that the tall penguin had fallen asleep. " Guess, I'll wait until

morning to ask him then." Private went back into his bunk and curled up underneath his blanket. From there,

he went to sleep, as well, thinking about the mother duck, but at the same time, still trying to figure out how

he was going to say what he wanted to say to her. Also, he fell asleep, hoping that Kowalski was going to

answer his question about helping each other out. The young penguin tossed and turned then began to

snore quietly. He was really hoping that Kowalski's answer would be a "yes".

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Wow. Even Kowalski's having trouble talking to a girl that he has a crush on. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 5. Find out what happens later on in the morning when Skipper helps Marlene make brunch and figures out when to finish the date. Also, see if Kowalski answers Private's question. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW : There may now be more than two lead role characters in the plot. Also, the fourth chapter was mostly written to help tie in the other pairings, along with the Skilene plot of the story, to help move everything to it's present and future positions. Thank-you for reading this message.


	5. Chapter 5

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were fabulous. Now here's the next chapter. Warning: I may revise this chapter, again. Please enjoy.

Chapter 5

About late morning, the penguins had woken up and silently climbed out of their bunks. Today was a day off

for them, seeing that they were all up really late last night. Skipper had gone over to Marlene's, to help her

make brunch, while the other penguins did their own things. Private, who still did not know what to say to

the mother duck, waddled over to Kowalski, who was about ready to go over to Doris' habitat, and asked him

the question that he had for him last night. He answered yes then they both went outside to the mother

duck's and Doris' habitat, and began to help each other out. Rico, on the other hand, waddled up to the

television with his girlfriend, the Barbie doll, and watched " Live Free or Die Hard". It was his favorite movie,

mostly because it had a lot of violence and explosions thoughout the entire presentation.

Meanwhile, at the otter habitat, Skipper and Marlene had began speaking to each other, while making a

huge mess out of the kitchen. The two had started setting everything that they needed down on a table in

front of them. " So," Marlene started, grabbing a mixing bowl and preheating the oven. " Are you excited

about being able to finish up our date?"

" You bet I am," Skipper retorted, grabbing a bag of flour. The two were going to bake Sardine Muffins today.

" I can't wait to dance with you tonight and stroll around the park afterwards."

" Who says that we have to wait until tonight to do that," Marlene raised an eyebrow as she pulled out some

milk from a fridge that she had hidden in her habitat. " We can do that right after brunch. If you want?"

" Nah," Skipper stated, grabbing a mixing spoon and a jar of sardines. " I think I'd rather wait, until tonight,

when there are hardly any humans around. We could probably snag the lemurs' boombox then and dance at

the park, before we take a stroll around it."

" Okay," Marlene shrugged, sounding disappointed as she grabbed the remaining ingredients for the muffins.

" Okay," Skipper stopped and asked firmly, putting his flippers on his hips. " What is that suppose to mean?"

" Just, okay," Marlene threw the ingredients in the mixing bowl and began stirring them together with the

mixing spoon. " Do you have a problem with that?"

" Just the way you said it, is all," Skipper raised one of his eyebrows as he rested one of his flippers on the

counter and leaned on it.

" And what way was that," Marlene pulled out a large muffin tin, which held up to approximately twelve

muffins at a time. She then began pouring the batter into the tin.

" Okay," Skipper imitated the way that Marlene had said it earlier. " That's exactly how you said it."

" Skipper," Marlene raised her voice as she set down the mixing bowl. " I did not say it like that."

" Yes, you did," Skipper raised his voice back. " I heard you. I was standing right here when you said it."

" Look, Skipper," Marlene snarled as the oven finished pre-heating. " I only said it that way, because I didn't

get much sleep last night, which is why I wanted to wait until after brunch to finish our date."

" Oh," Skipper raised his eyebrows with humiliation in his voice. " Sorry, I didn't know. For a second there, I

thought you were upset, because I was going to have us dance at the park tonight, instead of at the

restaurant."

" Skipper," Marlene put the filled muffin tin in the oven and close the door to it. Afterward, she set the timer. "

Why would I be upset about that, when I already told you that as long as I'm with you, it's perfect. In other

words, I don't care where we are as long as we're together," she stared deep into Skipper's eyes.

" Well, I," Skipper stuttered, rubbing the back of his head. " Guess I forgot that part."

" Yes, you did," Marlene put her paws on her hips. " Anyways. Is there any particular reason why you want to

dance at the park, tonight?"

" For one, it's beautiful. Just like you," Skipper smiled lightly, making Marlene smirk back and blush. " And two,

the restaurant that I brought you to last night is closed today, which is another reason why I suggested that

we dance at the park."

" Oh," Marlene lowered her paws to her sides. " Alright. That explains a lot. But could we finish our date after

brunch, please? I don't think my body will allow me to stay up until tonight without a decent night's worth of

sleep."

" Oh, all right," Skipper mumbled in defeat. " To tell you the truth, my body feels the same way, which is odd,

because I got a full eight hours of sleep last night."

" Probably, because you were bawling your eyes out, before you went to bed," Marlene suggested, smiling

as she laid a paw on Skipper's shoulder.

Skipper chuckled out loud. " Only because I thought I had lost you forever," he looked down at his feet,

mournfully. " You have no idea what it's like to be me and have your heart broken every single time you get

close to someone who you find special to you."

" More cheaters," Marlene raised an eyebrow, curiously.

" No. Just dumpers," Skipper replied looking back up at Marlene. " Except for Lola. I got to dump, or should I

say divorce her, but other than that I've always been the one who got dumped."

" Well do you want to know what I think about those girls who have dumped you," Marlene leaned close to

Skipper's face and smiled widely. " They missed out on a great penguin who is kind, caring, willing to help

others in need, and above all selfless."

Skipper smiled widely back at Marlene. " Thanks, Marlene," he thought for a moment. " So, what's your story

on your past relationships?"

" Well, the boys that I've dated were always either possessive, obsessive, treated me as if I were the

weaker gender, treated me as some sort of prize," she paused for a moment to think. " Wanted me to have

kids with them and stay home all the time to do habitat work, thought of me as dumber than they were…It's

a long story. I can't really explain it all."

" Wow," Skipper raised his eyebrows. " So I take it you were the dumper, huh?"

" Yes," Marlene replied, laying her paw on the table. " And I had no idea what it was like to be dumped, until

I read that note that you left for me, last night."

" It hurts to be dumped, doesn't it," Skipper asked softly, but considerately.

" Yeah," Marlene checked the oven timer then glanced back at Skipper. " But, it felt really great to get back

together, though."

" That, I agree with, Marlene," Skipper stated proudly, laying his flipper on her paw. " That, I agree with." The

couple stared into each other's eyes for a while. Skipper glanced over at the oven timer then looked back at

Marlene. It was about twenty minutes, until the muffins were supposed to be done. " So, Marlene," he smiled

charmingly. " Since it's going to be a while before the oven timer goes off. Would you like to dance?"

________________________________________________________________________________________

Aww. Skipper asked Marlene to dance. How sweet of him. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 6. Catch Marlene's answer to Skipper's question. Also find out how Kowalski's and Private's plan went for helping each other out. Please stay tuned and find out more.


	6. Chapter 6

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were spectacular. Now here's the next chapter. I know this gets old after a while, lol, but Warning: I may revise this chapter, again. Please enjoy.

Chapter 6

Marlene smiled widely at him. " Skipper," she moved closer to the lead penguin. " I would love to." Soon, the

couple started to dance the Cha-Cha, which they had rehearsed the other night. It started out rusty at first,

because Skipper was trying to remember the dance steps, but after a while, he was back on track. After

dancing most of the time, the couple decided to take a break and check the timer. There was only five more

minutes left before the muffins were done. The couple took this time to grab a glass of water and sit at the

table. While they were sitting at the table, Skipper was leaning his head on his flippers, staring and smiling

at Marlene. Marlene noticed it and looked over at Skipper. " Why are you looking at me like that," the otter

raised an eyebrow at him, smiling back.

" Huh," Skipper snapped out of his stare then began flirting. " Oh? I was just admiring you. That's all. You

know? You remind me of someone I've met before. She was strong, independent, funny, and very

intelligent."

" Did she happen to live across the sidewalk from you," Marlene played along, knowing what Skipper was

doing.

" Yes, in fact, she's an otter, like you are," Skipper stated deviously.

" So, this otter," Marlene pondered out loud, trying to play footsy with Skipper. " Was she friendly?"

" Yes, she was very friendly," Skipper retorted as he felt Marlene's feet tickle his. He chuckled a bit. Marlene

was flirting back with him.

" What happened to her," Marlene questioned worriedly. " Was she transferred?"

" Well, she did transfer from this aquarium in Northern California," Skipper stared at her, playing footsy back.

" I meant was she transferred to a different zoo, after this one," Marlene curiously stated as she felt

Skipper's feet playing with hers.

" No," Skipper scoffed, trying to move his feet away from Marlene's, but she managed to trap them. " As a

matter of fact, I'm looking at her, right now."

" Oh, Skipper, you flirt," Marlene chuckled as she folded her arms. " You were talking about me all along,

weren't you? I knew it all along."

" How did you know," Skipper raised an eyebrow at her.

" Well, when you said that I reminded you of someone that you've met before and told me the details, I

knew who you were talking about," Marlene retorted as Skipper blushed. " But, it was really sweet of you to

do that, though, plus it managed to take up some time."

" Thanks, Marlene," Skipper's blush faded from his face. " Uh, Marlene? May I have my feet back, please?"

" Of course, Skipper," Marlene giggled as she released Skipper's feet from her feet's grasp. Soon, the couple

smiled as they leaned close to each other from across the table. Both were about ready to kiss when the

oven timer went off. The couple groaned then got up from the table. Skipper threw on some oven mitts,

opened the oven door, and pulled out the filled muffin tin. He set it down on the counter, closed the door,

and turned off the oven and timer. Skipper took off the oven mitts and set them down next to the muffins. He

and Marlene waited patiently for the muffins to cool down, before removing them from the tin. While the

muffins were cooling down, the couple took the time to share a quick kiss. After the muffins had cooled down,

they removed the muffins from the tin, put them on a plate then called the others over to eat. About a few

minutes later, Rico, Kowalski, and Private ran in and sat around the table. The muffins were already sitting in

the middle of the table, before they got there, making it easy for everyone to reach, without having to pass

them out. Soon, everyone began talking, while eating the muffins.

" So, boys," Skipper took a bite out of his muffin and swallowed it before continuing to speak. " What did you

wind up doing today?"

" Movie," Rico shouted with his beak full. He had accidentally spit muffin crumbs all over the table and

everyone else. They all glared at him as they dusted the crumbs off of themselves. Rico apologized then

swallowed whatever was left of part of the muffin.

" Kowalski and I went over to the mother duck's and Doris' habitat," Private spoke up, after he had

swallowed part of his muffin.

" What were you both doing over at those places," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" Private and I made an agreement to help each other talk to the girls that we were in love with," Kowalski

uttered out. " So, we told each other kind of what we wanted to say to our crushes then made a plan to

whisper to each other, if any of us forgot our own words, while speaking to the girls."

" And how did that go," Marlene questioned then took a couple of bites out of her muffin.

" Okay," Kowalski finished eating his muffin. " I wish it could've gone better, though."

" Why," Skipper cut in, feeling concerned.

" I…farted while I was talking to Doris," Kowalski blushed, quickly. " But only because I was nervous. Okay?"

" Eww," Skipper stated firmly. " So, what did Doris do?"

" She laughed at me," Kowalski looked down at the table, nervously. " Then she asked me to come over to

her place for a dinner date tonight."

" Kowalski, that's great," Marlene raised her voice, cheerfully.

" So," Skipper pondered out loud. " What did you and Private do at the mother duck's place? Did anything go

wrong there?"

" No, not really," Kowalski retorted. " Although Private did mix his words around, while he was talking to the

mother duck about his feelings for her."

" What order did he wind up saying them in," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" Ask Private," Kowalski pointed to the young penguin, who was sitting directly across the table from Skipper.

" He remembers. As a matter of fact, he was so embarrassed about saying it, that he can repeat the words

back in the same exact order, every single time you ask him about it.

Skipper turned to Private, who had just finished eating his muffin. " Private," he uttered out, curiously. "

What exactly did you wind up saying to the mother duck?"

" Love I'm you in with," Private stated back, quickly, still feeling embarrassed about it.

" See," Kowalski raised his eyebrows as he spoke to Skipper. " That's how mixed up his words were, but at

least the mother duck knew what he what he was trying to say and told him that she felt the same way as

he did."

" Aww. That's so sweet," Marlene smiled. " You know, I've heard that the mother duck has been single for a

while now. Apparently, her husband flew north, just a couple of weeks before the ducklings had even

hatched and never came back."

" What happened to him," Private asked worriedly.

" Nobody really knows," Marlene stated mysteriously. " But, I was told that he never really liked kids. So, I'm

guessing that he le…"

" Marlene," Skipper snapped, knowing what she was about to say.

" What," Marlene growled. " I was just going to say that it's possible that he might've…" Suddenly, Skipper

covered her mouth with his flipper to keep her from speaking, but the young penguin had already figured out

what she was going to say.

" Wait a minute," Private raised an eyebrow. " The father duck didn't like kids, so you're saying that it's

possible that he might've left the mother duck just because of that? What a horrid thing to do."

Skipper turned to Marlene, glared at her then released his flipper from her mouth. " Nice going, Marlene," he

huffed.

" What," Marlene shrugged.

" Forget it," Skipper scoffed. " The damage has already been done."

" No, seriously," Marlene stared over at Skipper. " What is it?"

" Okay," he leaned toward Marlene then whispered. " I was trying to prevent you from worrying Private. You

see? The mother duck is his first crush and there is still so much that he's not ready to hear about, yet, when

it comes to relationships."

" Why not," she whispered back.

" Because he is not " of age"," Kowalski eavesdropped, butting in on the conversation.

" Oh," Marlene replied, guiltily.

" Kowalski," Skipper glanced over at the tall penguin. " Do you mind?"

" Sorry," Kowalski folded his flippers. " It's kind of hard not to listen in on you two turtle doves, when you are

sitting diagonal from me, gabbing away."

" So," Marlene raised a curious eyebrow. " When does Private become " of age"?"

" On the twelfth of next month," Skipper responded, informatively.

" Wow," Marlene widened her eyes. " Already?"

" Frighteningly, yes," Private nervously answered. Everybody at the table was now staring at him,

awkwardly.

" Frighteningly," Marlene squeaked. " Why frighteningly? It's just another birthday. What's there to be afraid

of?"

________________________________________________________________________________________

Wow. That might explain the father duck's absence, but it's just a guess. Whoa! Skipper and Marlene were very flirtatious in this chapter. LOL. Sorry. I just had to add that and the footsy thing. The ideas were just sitting right there, begging me to put them into the story. LOL . Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 7. Catch Private's answer to Marlene's question. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: There was a hint in one of the final chapters of " To Private's Eyes". Thank-you for reading this message.


	7. Chapter 7

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were awesome. Now here's the next chapter. BTW: Thanks Viva1La1Bam for pointing this out. I really appreciated it. You bring up an interesting point. Not to make a big deal out of the review or anything, but I like to explain details to readers. Anyways. I already knew that Skipper was out of character here and there. I was trying to aim and bring out a different side of him, that doesn't usually show, and weave back into his original personality before I drifted too far away from it. Also, the reason why this story is at a faster pace than " To Private's Eyes", is probably because I started off with the largest obstacle in the first chapter. I'm not really sure. Maybe it's the way my brain wanted to type out the story. LOL. Anyways. Thank-you for reading this message. Warning: I may revise, blah, blah, blah. LOL. You know what I mean. BTW: I'm a little unsure about this chapter. Something seems off about it and...Oh, my, gosh! I've become paranoid just like Skipper! He's contagious(screams). Okay, maybe I'm not paranoid like Skipper nor is paranoia contagious. LOL . Anyways. Please let me know what you think about it and please enjoy. Sorry this A/N was so long.

Chapter 7

" Many things," Private squeaked.

Marlene looked at him with a skeptic expression on her face and folded her arms. " Name one."

" I'd rather not," Private stuttered.

" I'm giving him the rest of " The talk" on his birthday," Skipper butted in.

" The rest of " The talk"," Marlene questioned as she turned towards Skipper. " Skipper, what did you tell him

in the other part of " The talk"?"

" I told him a little bit about the facts of life, which I kept appropriate for his age group, most of the time,"

Skipper stated firmly. " Why?"

" Most of the time," Marlene raised an eyebrow, which was startled, but at the same time furious. The other

penguins stared at the couple.

" While giving Private " The talk", I may have accidentally told him a few things that went above his age

group level," Skipper stuttered, but remained stern.

" A few things," Private squealed. " You told me more than just a few things, Skipper. You told me stuff that'll

give me nightmares for days."

" And did you have any nightmares, at all, after I told you any of that stuff," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" Now that you mention it. No," Private thought out loud, going back to his normal self.

" Good," Skipper grumbled.

Suddenly, the otter habitat became quiet. The animals inside had started to become a little uneasy about it.

" Well," Kowalski glanced down at his flipper, pretending that there was a watch there. " Would you look at

the time? I got to go. I'm going to go make a gift for Doris." He stood up from the table. " Thanks for the

muffins. 'Bye," Kowalski ran off outside, toward the penguin habitat.

Rico pointed his flipper toward the door of Marlene's habitat. " Finish movie," he squawked then waddled off,

following after Kowalski.

" I guess, I should be going to," Private stood up from the table. " I promised the mother duck I would stop

by the pond and help teach her ducklings how to swim."

" Hold it Private," Marlene uttered. " What exactly did Skipper tell you in " The talk"?" Private took a deep

breath then told Marlene every thing that Skipper had told him about the facts of life. Marlene stood shocked

and wanted to scold Skipper for scaring Private like that. He was still a little too young to hear about that

stuff, but he was getting close to the age to where he could, though. Skipper turned sideways, away from

Marlene, knowing that she was not the least bit satisfied with what she had heard. He had also glared at

Private, from the corner of his eye, for not keeping his big beak shut. Marlene took a deep breath to cool her

self down before proceeding to talk to the young penguin. " Private," she looked at him, reassuringly. "That's

no reason to be afraid of your birthday."

" It's not," Private stuttered.

" No," Marlene retorted then smiled. "It's just a part of life and some thing that you need to be well aware of,

as well as everyone else, when they reach that certain age."

" Even you two," Private asked curiously, looking at both Marlene and Skipper.

" Yes, Private," Skipper smiled as he turned to the young penguin. " Even us two. Now, aren't you running

late for something?"

" Oh, my goodness," Private screeched, slapping his flippers on the sides of his face then began exiting out

of the habitat. " I've got to get going. 'Bye. And thanks for the muffins! They were delicious!"

" 'Bye, Private," Marlene and Skipper shouted simultaneously as they waved at him.

" Okay, Skipper," Marlene turned to Skipper, who was now looking at her. " Explain yourself. Why did you

have to tell Private that stuff about the facts of life, so early?"

" My father told it to me, when I was his age, except he told me the whole, entire story," Skipper retorted.

" Wow," Marlene raised both of her eyebrows in surprise. " The apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. Does

it?"

" And what is that suppose to mean," Skipper folded his flippers then narrowed his eyes.

" I mean that you and your father told too much information to a kid, that wasn't ready to be heard by them,

yet, because they're still very young," Marlene squeaked.

" Hey, at least I told Private only part of what my father told me," Skipper argued. " Mostly because I didn't

want to traumatize him for life."

" But it still affected him, though," Marlene shouted in a concern tone.

" Not as bad as it affected me," Skipper stated defensively. " I was given the whole talk within the same day

and had a bad reaction to hearing it afterwards."

" So you had to go and scare Private out of his wits like that, without even considering what it might've done

to him, too," Marlene argued back.

" Look. I didn't know. Okay," Skipper growled. " Besides, I've already told you that it was an accident."

" Did you apologize for that accident," Marlene glared at Skipper.

" Well," Skipper thought for a moment then felt guilty about it. " No…I didn't apologize, but that's beside the

point of this conversation here, Marlene."

" Skipper," Marlene sighed. " I have a question for you. And please don't take this personally, but what

happens if you decide to have kids or adopt kids in the future? Would you do the same thing to them, too?"

" Honestly," Skipper thought out loud, taking a flipper to the bottom of his beak. " I don't know. Probably.

Why?"

" Just curious," Marlene shrugged as Skipper stared at her, with a raise eyebrow.

" Why are you curious about it," Skipper then wrapped his flipper around Marlene's shoulder and smiled at

her. " Come on. You can tell me. I don't bite. I may bark at you, but no biting. I promise?"

" Well," Marlene took a finger to her chin. " All right. I'll tell you. I just want to know how you would be with

kids, that's all..."

" Oh, no," Skipper jumped nervously. " You're not…I didn't…we just kissed and…we only dated for…I don't

think...unless that other otter..."

" No, Skipper," Marlene raised her voice with a chuckle. " It's not that. Besides, I said " decide". Remember?

So, no need to get all paranoid.I'm just asking, because if we ever get married some day and decide to

adopt a kid and yes, I said "adopt", I want to make sure that you can handle the responsibility and have the

patience for it."

" Oh," Skipper blushed and wiped his forehead with his free flipper. " Whew. Thank goodness. For a second

there I thought you were…never mind. Anyways. If you really want to know, I'm great with kids and I love

them. If I were to have or adopt any, I don't know exactly how I would be. If we were to get married,

which is pushy at this point since we just barely started dating, and adopt kids, the same thing would apply,

but I have to admit to you that I can be a little irresponsible and impatient sometimes, seeing that I

command an elite force."

" Sometimes," Marlene raised a skeptic eyebrow. " From what I've heard from Private, you built an obstacle

course and put Eggy through it before he had even hatched, plus I heard that you were trying to push him

into becoming a leader, like you."

" Guilty as charged," Skipper chuckled nervously. " Though from what I've been told, Eggy has picked up on

some of my excelente leadership skills."

" True," Marlene retorted then felt Skipper remove his flipper off of her shoulders. He stood up from his seat.

" Where are you going," she asked curiously.

Skipper looked down at her. " I just remembered, I have an apology that I need to go make," he leaned

down, kissed Marlene on the cheek, and began waddling away. " I'll be right back. Love you, Marlene."

" Love you, too, Skipper," Marlene waved at him.

Suddenly, he stopped at the doorway. " Oh? When I get back," he looked over at Marlene. " Would you like

to take the stroll around Central Park or would you rather just rest up and save it for another time? Because

either way, I'm good."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Wow. Skipper thought what now!? Never mind. The problem's been fixed. Anyways . Coming up next in Chapter 8. Catch Marlene's answer to Skipper's question. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: I apologize for any characters, who are or may be out of character. I have been known to do that and I don't know why. It could be one of my OC's and I could write them out of character from time to time, easily and by accident, of course. LOL . Anyways. Thank-you for reading this message.


	8. Chapter 8

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were awesome. Now here's the next chapter. BTW: Thanks, again, Viva1La1Bam for pointing this out. I appreciated that. It turns out that instead of me putting in two or more main characters in the plot, like I had thought, there's just been mainly been one. LOL . Anyways. Disregard the A/N that I put in the first chapter for right now, until further notice. Thank-you for reading this message. Please enjoy. BTW: I may revise this chapter, again.

Chapter 8

Marlene took a finger to her chin. " I'll think about it."

Skipper shrugged. " Alright," he turned and waddled outside. Skipper thought to himself and chuckled._ She'll _

_probably be asleep by the time I get back. No doubt about it._ About several minutes later, he had arrived at the

pond, which was located in Central Park itself. He scanned the entire area, until he spotted Private with the

ducklings. The mother duck had gone back to her place to grab some pool toys for the kids, so they could

play with them. She had left Private in charge of watching them, until she got back. All of the ducklings were

swimming, happily, in the water. Luckily, for them, no humans were hanging out around where they were.

Skipper quickly waddled over to where Private was. " Hey Private," he waved as he approached the young

penguin.

Private glanced up at him, looked back at the ducklings, and back at Skipper, again. " Hey Skipper," he swam

over to the edge of the pond. " What brings you by?"

" I'm here to apologize," Skipper stated slowly.

Private raised an eyebrow at him. He glanced over at the ducklings, making sure that they were okay then

turned his attention back toward Skipper. " Apologize," he jumped out of the water. " For what?"

" For scaring you when I told you about the facts of life," Skipper rubbed the back of his head with his flipper.

" Oh," Private squeaked. " That? No need to apologize for that. After all, I would've known about it sooner or

later."

" But still, I told you stuff that was far too gruesome for you to know about it, yet," Skipper raised his voice a

little. " And in the process of telling you that gruesome stuff, I think I also hurt you."

" Hurt me like how, Skipper," Private shrugged. " I mean, there's not a single scratch on me. See?"

" I meant that I think I hurt you internally, Private," Skipper chuckled a little bit. " Like mentally and

emotionally."

" Oh," Private raised both of his eyebrows. " Well both are fine. Thanks for asking."

" Good. I'm glad to hear that," Skipper smiled then looked over at the ducklings. They were trying to dunk

each other under the water. " Uh, Private," the lead penguin pointed a flipper toward the pond.

Private quickly turned around and gasped. " Kids," he shouted in concern as he placed his flippers on his

hips. " No dunking, please. You'll get hurt." The ducklings stopped dunking each other and went back to just

swimming around. " Thank-you," he softened his voice then turned to Skipper. " So, Skipper, is that all you

came over here for? Just to apologize to me?"

" Yeah, that's basically it," Skipper shrugged.

" Okay," Private smiled. " Since you came all this way, I'll accept your apology."

Skipper smiled back. " Thanks Private," he glanced over at the group of ducklings in the pond. " I should

probably let you get back to babysitting now."

" Yeah," Private glanced over at the ducklings. " You know? It's not that difficult to do, once you get the hang

of it, plus the kids are really sweet."

" Do they listen to you," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" Most of the time," Private kept his eyes on the ducklings. " They get fussy when it comes to taking naps."

" What kid doesn't," Skipper chuckled as he put his flippers on his hips. " Listen. I got to go. I told Marlene I'd

be back."

" Alright," Private retorted cheerfully. " See you, Skipper."

Skipper nodded his head and went back to Marlene's habitat. When he got there, Marlene was already fast

asleep in her rock bed, resting her head on her pillow. She was facing toward the entranceway of her

habitat, when Skipper waddled in. Skipper smiled at her and spoke quietly. " I knew it," the lead penguin

chuckled then waddled up to her. He sat down off to the side of Marlene's bed, folded his flippers, and rested

them on the mattress. Soon, Skipper rested his head on his flippers and watched her, waiting for her to

wake up. While he was waiting for her to wake up, he began dozing off. Suddenly, Marlene began snoring,

like a snorting pig, and woke Skipper up. He chuckled at her, again then went to sleep. Soon, he had begun

snoring, as well.

About an hour later, Marlene woke up to see Skipper, resting his head on her bed, snoring like a roaring

thunderstorm. She smiled at him then waited for him to wake up. As soon as he woke up, Marlene began

speaking with a raised eyebrow. " Wow," Marlene folded her arms. " For a second there, I thought it was

thundering outside, but it turns out, it was only the sound of your loud snoring."

Skipper yawned and stretched his arms, while looking at Marlene. " My snoring is not that loud, Marlene," he

stated then raised his eyebrow, curiously. " Is it?"

" Let's put it this way," Marlene began slowly. " The aquarium that I'm from in Northern California probably

heard you."

" Hey. At least my snore doesn't sound like a snorting pig," Skipper stopped stretching, stood up, and backed

away from the bed a little.

" Touché," she chuckled and hopped off of her bed. " Anyways. How long have you been back?"

" I don't know," Skipper thought for a moment. " For a good hour or so. Maybe?"

" Wow," Marlene rubbed one of her eyes with her paw. " I must've been really tired, to sleep for that long.

What time is it anyway?"

" I'll go check the sun," Skipper waddled outside then came back in. " It's almost 1330 hours."

" Meaning," Marlene shrugged then something started to come to her mind. " Hold on. Let me think. It's one-

thirty in the afternoon. Right?"

" Yeah," Skipper retorted with a surprised tone. " How did you…"

" A few days ago, you told me what time to meet you for Chess for both military time and regular time,"

Marlene smiled. " So, I filled in the blanks for the other times."

" Oh," Skipper then muttered to him self. " That explains it."

" Hey," Marlene pointed a finger at him. " You said that I was very intelligent. Did you not?"

" Once, again," Skipper rolled his eyes, smiling. " Guilty as charged." He turned his eyes toward Marlene. "

So," Skipper began, waddling to the side of Marlene. " Do you want to stroll the park today or…"

" Sure," Marlene gripped onto Skipper's flipper. " Why not?" Soon, the couple had left the otter habitat and

entered the park by jumping over one of the brick walls, which surrounded the zoo. While they were walking,

the couple began talking, while taking in the view of the park. It was very lovely this time of year. The

flowers had barely bloomed, the grass sparkled with dewdrops, and the trees all had beautifully colored

leaves. " So, Skipper," Marlene turned her head to Skipper. " How long have you lived at the Central Park

Zoo?"

" Basically, almost my whole life," Skipper glanced over at Marlene. " I mean, I've lived in Madagascar for a

year and stayed in Africa for a few days, but aside from that, this is where I mostly lived. What about you? I

mean, I know you've lived in Northern California and here, but have you ever lived anywhere else?"

" Nope," Marlene retorted then glanced over at the pond. She saw Private, the ducklings, and the mother

duck playing with a beach ball. " So, did Private accept your apology?"

" Yes, he did," Skipper uttered.

The couple continued asking and answering each others , out of nowhere, Ramone jumped out of a bush and

landed in front of Skipper and Marlene. The couple stood there, glaring at him as he approached. Skipper and

Marlene thought irritably to themselves. _What is he doing here?_

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Ahh! It's Ramone!( creepy voice) He's back. ( back to normal)LOL. Sorry. I just had to bring him back. It was a good spot in the story to place him. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 9. Find out why Ramone is there( scoffs:" obvious") and how he found his way to Central Park. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: I will be leaving sometime between August 5th and the 6th for a family roadtrip. I should be back sometime between the 14th and the 16th. So, I'll see how much I can update, until then. Thank-you for reading this message.


	9. Chapter 9

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were fantastic. Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been busy. Now here's the next chapter. BTW: Chapter is most likely to be revised, again. Warning: Rating varies. Please enjoy.

Chapter 9

" So, Marlene," Ramone smiled then looked over at Skipper. " This was the "real boyfriend", who you were

telling me about a few nights ago. Kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel. Don't you think?"

" No," Marlene put her free paw on her hip. " I don't think that. And how did you know where to find me?"

" I followed you, plus I knew that the Central Park Zoo is the only zoo in the Manhattan area," Ramone

retorted as he glanced over at Marlene. Skipper and Marlene both narrowed their eyes at him.

" Hey," Skipper angrily pointed at him with his free flipper. " You're that otter that nearly destroyed mine and

Marlene's relationship."

" And you're that penguin, who was pretending to steal my love from me by pretending to date her," Ramone

chuckled.

" For the millionth time, Ramone," Marlene grumbled. " And please don't make me say this, again. I am not

your love, anymore."

" So you say," Ramone chuckled then twirled his moustache a few times and stopped. " But I can change

your mind easily."

" Not anymore, you can't," Marlene growled.

" Oh, really," he raised his eyebrow then chuckled, again. " Then I'm sure that you can't resist dancing the

Cha-Cha with me?"

"Actually, I'd prefer to dance the Cha-Cha with Skipper," Marlene folded her arms.

" Skipper," Ramone raised an eyebrow. " What kind of a name is that? Does he skip around or is he some

brand of peanut butter, who goes by Skipper now instead of Skippy?"

" No," Skipper put his flippers on his hips. " It is a name of a captain of a ship. I should know. I've been one

for a while now. And trust me, I like it better than your ridiculous name. Huh, Ravioli?"

" Ridiculous," Ramone scoffed. " Surely, you must be mistaken. If it's ridiculous, then why is it so popular, eh,

skipping, peanut butter boy?"

" Alright," Skipper shouted, getting into a fighting stance. " That's it! You have crossed the line one too many

times, already!"

" Skipper," Marlene quickly jumped out in front of him. " No. He's not worth it."

" What are you going to do with those thin flippers, skipping, peanut butter boy," Ramone smiled then

chuckled deviously. " Slap me?"

" Out of my way, Marlene," Skipper said sternly to Marlene as he held his fighting stance. " I need to show

this guy what happens when you meddle with other animal's love lives."

" Come on, skipping, peanut butter boy," Ramone taunted as he put his paws on his hips. " I'm waiting."

" No," Marlene snarled, trying to be reasonable. " I refuse. There has to be another way."

"Such as," Skipper curiously raised an eyebrow.

" I'm still waiting for you," Ramone spoke up. " Unless you'd prefer to listen to the woman's words and give

up?"

" Letting me fight by your side," Marlene raised a hopeful eyebrow with a wide smile.

" I like the way you think, Marlene," Skipper gave Marlene his charming smile. " Now. Do you mind?"

" Oh? Sorry," Marlene scooted over to Skipper's side. Soon, both Marlene and Skipper were in their fighting

stances with intimidating looks on their faces.

Ramone raised an eyebrow at them. " You have got to be kidding me," he chuckled. " Now, Marlene, my love,

is going to be slap fighting me, too? This ought to be good. "

" For the final time. I'm not your," Marlene paused and growled. " Forget it!"

" Come on, Marlene," Skipper smiled deviously. " Let's welcome this Rhubarb guy, New York style."

" New York style," Ramone scoffed and chuckled. " Very funny. Very funny, indeed. But I must warn you. Your

New York style slap fighting is no match for my Northern California style martial arts."

" Who said anything about it being a slap fight," Skipper raised an eyebrow. " I've been training in the martial

arts for years and have a tenth degree black belt in several styles of kung fu."

" Really now," Ramone raised a skeptic eyebrow. " Then let's see if you're familiar with this style then." The

otter corkscrewed into the air and kicked toward Skipper. Skipper caught him by his kicking foot and swung

him down onto the sidewalk. " Okay," he snarled as he quickly hopped off of the ground. " So, you are

familiar with that style."

" Familiar with it," Skipper kept his guard up. " I invented that style years ago. I called it " Peng-Kung Fu".

And if that's the only style you know then I suggest that you better get out of here and never come back.

Understood?"

" Uh, Skipper," Marlene whispered into Skipper's ear. " That's the only style that he knows."

" Oh," Skipper whispered back, glad to hear that. " Thanks Marlene. Um, Marlene?"

" Yes, Skipper," Marlene raised an eyebrow.

" What types of self defense do you know," Skipper questioned as he kept a close eye on Ramone, who was

ready to attack, again.

Marlene thought out loud. " Well, I have been watching you and your team practice and mimicked some of

your moves," the otter thought out loud as she glared at Ramone, who was charging at both of them and

getting ready to slide kick. " So, I'll have to say that I know different types."

" Excelente," Skipper proudly retorted. " That's all I need to know."

As soon as Ramone slide kicked, the couple jumped over him and each did a front flip, landing gently on the

sidewalk. Soon, Marlene turned around, grabbed Ramone by the arm, and flipped him over her back, onto the

sidewalk. Ramone landed on his bottom, stood back up, and rubbed his sore spot.

At the pond, Private, the mother duck, and the ducklings glanced over and saw Skipper and Marlene fighting

a male otter. Private and the mother duck covered the ducklings' eyes as quickly as possible and climbed out

of the pond. The mother duck took her ducklings back to the zoo, leaving the toys behind, while Private

waddled to where Skipper and Marlene were.

Right when the young penguin got there, Ramone landed on his stomach on the sidewalk, turned onto his

back, and began to cower at the couple. " I give up," the otter shrieked, shielding his head. " You two win!"

" Do you promise to leave and not come near me ever, again," Marlene snarled.

" Yes," Ramone stuttered. " I promise. Just, please, don't hurt me anymore."

" Good," Skipper growled then pointed his flipper towards the outside of the city. " Now get out of here."

" Okay," Ramone squeaked and took off down the sidewalk, getting further away from the park and the zoo.

The couple lowered their guards down and relaxed. Skipper then turned to Marlene. " So," he flashed his

dreamy smile. " Where were we?"

" Hey you two," Private curiously waddled up to the couple.

" Private," the couple surprisingly stated simultaneously.

" How long have you been standing there," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" Not for too long," Private retorted. " I got here right when that one otter landed on his stomach on the

sidewalk. Who was he anyway?"

" Who cares," Marlene scoffed as she dusted off her paws. " He's out of our fur and feathers now."

" Private, what are you doing here," Skipper questioned. " I thought you were helping out the mother duck."

" I was, until the mother duck and I saw you two fighting that otter, " Private explained. " So, the mother

duck took her ducklings home, while I decided to come over here in case you needed any help."

" Well, everything is all right now, Private," Skipper softly stated. " But thanks for stopping by though."

" No problem," Private smiled then started waddling toward the zoo. " See you later."

" See you, Private," the couple stated together.

Once Private was out of sight, the couple continued their stroll around the park. They held appendages,

again, while they were walking. " Okay," Skipper spoke up. " Back to business. Where were we, again? I

mean, before we were interrupted by that Rigatoni guy?"

" I asked you a question about what your favorite food was and you answered halibut casserole," Marlene

smiled.

" Oh, yeah? Thanks, Marlene," Skipper muttered as he recalled asking Marlene the same question and her

answering clam chowder. " And I believe it is my turn to ask you another question. What's your family like?"

" It's a very mixed group," Marlene looked over at Skipper. " You should see them around Thanksgiving,

Christmas, and Christmas in July. So, what about your family? Not your team, who I see everyday. I mean,

your actual, blood related family?"

________________________________________________________________________________________

Woo!Hoo! Ramone is outta here!( Everyone cheers) Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 10. Catch Skipper's answer to Marlene's question. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW : I will be leaving for the family roadtrip on Thursday, August 6th and won't be back until August 14th. So Chapter 10 won't be up until sometime after I get back. Thank-you for reading this message and thank-you for your patience.


	10. Chapter 10

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Hey everyone. I'm back from the roadtrip. Actually, I've been back since Saturday, August 15th, but I wanted to rest up from the long journey first before posting this next chapter. Anyways. Thanks for the reviews. They were wonderful. And thank-you for your patience. BTW: I now accept Private Messages to my profile. Please enjoy. Sorry for the long wait and if anybody's noticed that there are words missing in places in this story. It is mostly due to Document Manager cutting them out when I go to revise it and save it. I mean, I type it, save it, and keep reading over it, but it manages to cut words . Thank-you for reading this message. Warning: This chapter may be revised, again.

Chapter 10

" Well," Skipper pondered for a little while before answering. " My mother's very friendly, protective, social,

and embarrasses me in public, my father's very strict, caring, a little anti-social, and surprisingly

understanding, and my little brother, Zipper is…Well, he's just Zipper. But it's been a while since I've seen

them, though."

" What happened to them," Marlene sounded worried.

" They were transferred on my sixth birthday, along with Kowalski's parents. You see? The zoo only wanted

to keep two of us penguin chicks at the zoo and since Zipper was too young to fend for himself and still had

his down feathers, he went with our parents, thus leaving Kowalski and I behind," Skipper froze for a second,

before speaking, again. " Hey! It was my turn to ask you a question."

" I'll let you ask two then, to even it out," Marlene chuckled.

" Okay," Skipper retorted with a smile. " Fair enough. So, anyways, both mine and Kowalski's parents were

transferred on the same day. So we both wound up fending for ourselves for a while, until Rico and Private

came. Okay? Here are my two questions for you. I know that I'm switching lanes here, but what movie would

you like to see and do you like salt and butter with your popcorn?"

" Why are you asking me that," Marlene raised an eyebrow then remembered. " Oh, right? It's the plans for

our second date. Okay? To answer your first question, the movie I would like to see is " The Wild". And as for

the second question, yes, I do like salt and butter with my popcorn. Okay? It's my turn, again. After we have

our second date, where should we go out on our third date?"

About a couple of hours later, the couple had asked and answered dozens of each other's questions. By the

end of the walk around the park, Skipper and Marlene had known a lot of things about each other that they

had never known about before, mostly because they were shy, unsure, or, in Skipper's case, paranoid.

The couple chuckled at how much they now knew about each other as they entered the zoo, by hopping over

one of the brick walls. After jumping over one of the brick walls, Marlene spoke up. " Wow," she flashed a

smile. " I cannot believe that you of all strict animals started a food fight back in military school."

" I was immature and foolish then, Marlene. I didn't know any better. I was an idiot," Skipper defensively

retorted. " I cannot believe that you used to be a preppy, girly girl."

Marlene chuckled a bit. " Well," she smirked. " I was into the color pink and fancy clothes before I had decided

to switch to purple and become a tomboy. Phases. You know? Eh, baggy pants wearer?"

Skipper scoffed as he rolled his eyes. " Tell me about it. By the way, that was the style then, plus they were

hand-me-downs from Zipper."

" Wait a minute," Marlene raised both of her eyebrows as her jaw dropped. " Your little brother was bigger

than you?"

" Yep," Skipper retorted, flatly. " He was about three years old and already one and a half times my size, the

last time I've seen him. Cod knows how big he is now."

" So when you said little, you only meant younger, right," Marlene questioned curiously.

" Bingo," Skipper stated then raised his voice, along with a slight chuckle. " Hey! You just asked me two

questions in a row, again."

Soon, he and Marlene both arrived at the outside of the otter habitat. " Well," Marlene turned to Skipper, still

holding his flipper. " See you around. Oh? Before I forget. Max, the janitor at the " Manhattan Restaurant/

Dance Club", that we went to, told me that he needs his pen back from you. You know? The one that you

used to write that note with, shortly before you left the restaurant? That one."

" Okay? Well,I'll make sure I return it to him," Skipper recalled then smiled as he kept a hold of Marlene's paw.

They stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes then kissed.

After they kissed, Skipper went back to the penguin habitat. Meanwhile, Marlene stood at the same spot that

she was at and stared at Skipper as he went through and closed the fishbowl entrance. She smiled to herself

then went inside her habitat.

As soon as she entered her habitat, she heard something moving about the cave. She grew horrified as she

thought to herself out loud. " Ramone," the otter gasped. Suddenly, her body filled with rage. Marlene was

just about to follow the sound and attack the intruder, when an otter pup crawled out from underneath the

table. " Huh," Marlene lowered her guard down as she stared at the toddler. It was another Asian Otter, with

chocolate brown fur, who was only about four years old, in otter years. She was almost marked exactly like

Marlene, except the white on half of her face stretched up passed her left eye, up to her eyebrow. Marlene

stared at the otter pup for a few more seconds then smiled. " Hello," she waved.

The otter pup stuttered with a soft squeak in her voice. " Hello," she then looked around Marlene's habitat

with a confused expression on her face. " Where am I?"

" You're at the Central Park Zoo," Marlene replied then shrugged. " When did you get here?"

" I don't know," she shrugged as she stood up on two legs. " All I know is these funny looking pink animals

came to the river my family lives by and put me in this funny looking tree that I couldn't get out of."

"Wait a minute," Marlene looked at the little otter with a raised eyebrow. " You're from the wild?"

" Yes. Are you," the young otter questioned.

" Sorry. I'm afraid not," Marlene retorted. " I was born in captivity. By the why, my name is Marlene. And you

are?"

" Maddie," Maddie retorted then looked around, again, feeling confused. " Where's my family?"

" I don't know," Marlene sighed then thought for a brief moment. " But I do know someone, who can help

locate your family. Come on." She waved the little otter to follow her into the sewer exit of her home. The

little otter listened, watched, then followed.

Meanwhile, at the penguin habitat, Rico, Private, and Kowalski were each talking about their day, at the

table, when Skipper arrived through the fishbowl entrance. None of them had even noticed that Skipper had

entered the room and kept continuing their conversation.

" So," Private stated, out loud. " After I left the park and went to the mother duck's place, the ducklings were

trying to imitate some of the battle moves that they had seen Skipper and Marlene doing earlier and started

fighting each other. It was such a terrible sight to see and the mother duck and I had a hard time keeping

them under control for a while. That is, until the ducklings wore themselves out and fell asleep."

Skipper listened attentively to what Private had just said and felt guilty about what the ducklings had just

learned. Soon, Kowalski spoke up, feeling surprised. " Wow," he raised an eyebrow. " Sounds like you had a

pretty busy day."

" Indeed, I did," Private sighed, exhaustingly. " But, I still enjoyed it, though. So, how did your day go,

Kowalski?"

" Well, I made a white, waterproof music box with a dancing ballerina inside for Doris and gave it to her,"

Kowalski thought out loud. " She told me she loved it. And now I get to eat dinner with her at 1700 hours,

which is only about forty-five minutes and ten seconds away." He glanced up at the clock, anxiously, and read

it. " Make that forty-four minutes and fifty-nine seconds. Fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six…"

" Whoa," Skipper grunted, causing the whole team to turn their heads toward him in shock. " Nervous much,

Kowalski?"

" Very," Kowalski stuttered as Skipper came over to the table, but remained standing. " I've never had a date

with Doris before and have been wanting to date her for a while. And now that…How long have you been

standing there?"

" Long enough," Skipper shrugged.

Suddenly, without warning, Marlene barged in through the door, over by the bunks. " Hey guys," she waved,

joyfully as she hid Maddie behind her back.

" Marlene," Skipper raised a concerned eyebrow as he and the other penguins looked at her. " What brings

you by? Is something wrong?"

" Well, now that you mention it, there is," Marlene stated, starting to feel uncertain.

" What is it," Skipper questioned as he examined Marlene's facial expressions with worry. Everything

appeared normal, except she kept glancing back behind herself. " Well," Skipper folded his flippers, now

sensing that she was afraid. " Out with it." Marlene sighed, stepped off to the side, closest to the table, and

revealed the otter pup.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Aww. Poor Maddie, being separated from her family like that. Tear. Tear. BTW: I know it's been a few years since " The Wild" was in theatres, but hey. It is a fictional story after all. Anyway . Coming up next in Chapter 11. Catch the penguins' reaction to Maddie the otter pup. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: I start school on Monday, August 24 and will be very busy working on class assignments starting from that day. I have no idea how often I'm going to be able update this story.I'm guessing between, once a week to once a month, or just on weekends. IDK. It's still completely unpredictable at this point. I have to go based off of how much homework and free time I actually have just so I can update. Anyways. Thank-you for reading this message.


	11. Chapter 11

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were wonderful. Whew. I finally found time to update this story. I was starting to go crazy. LOL. Now here's the next chapter. Warning: Chapter may be revised, again.

Chapter 11

Everyone gasped at it, not knowing what to think of it. " Marlene," Skipper glanced up at Marlene with a

raised eyebrow, then pointed a curious flipper at Maddie. " Who is this? Oh, my, gosh! You didn't?"

" I didn't what," Marlene raised an eyebrow, placing her paws on her hips.

" Who did this to you," Skipper grabbed Marlene, firmly by the shoulders with his flippers. " I will make them

cry for all of the pain and suffering they've put you through."

" Skipper," Marlene pulled Skipper's flippers off of her shoulders. " Relax. She's not mine. As a matter of fact

the zoo brought Maddie here from the wild. Say hi, Maddie."

Maddie shivered as she looked around at her surroundings before speaking. " Hi," she stated nervously. "

Marlene says you c…can f…find my p…parents. Can you help find them, p…please?"

" Of course we will, Maddie," Private stated cheerfully as he got up from the table and waddled over next to

Skipper.

" But first," Kowalski pulled his clipboard and pencil out from behind his back and prepared to take notes. "

We'll need to know the name of the place where your parents live, your parent's names, and the type of

otter species you are. And if I'm not mistaken, you must be an Asian Otter, right?"

" Uh, huh," Maddie nodded her head slowly. " And my parents names are Xi'an Tao and Xi'an Colette. They

live by the Huang River, but I don't know exactly where that is. I just know the name."

" Huang River, Xi'an Tao, and Xi'an Colette," Kowalski mumbled to him self, out loud, while he was still writing

down notes then stopped for a brief moment to look up at everyone. " I think we have enough information to

possibly locate Maddie's family."

" Excelente," Skipper stated with a smile.

" But, before we locate Maddie's family," Kowalski in a matter-of-fact tone. " We have to wait for Alice to

leave so we can track them."

" Who's Alice," Maddie raised an eyebrow, starting to feel more comfortable with her surroundings.

" A crazy zookeeper," Skipper retorted as he glanced at Maddie. " Stay away from her and you'll be fine."

" Oh," Maddie raised her voice in thought as she scratched the top of her head. " What's a zookeeper?"

" It's someone, who takes care of animals, who are from the wild or who were born in captivity from an

animal, who was born in the wild," Kowalski put his clipboard and pencil behind his back, where they

disappeared.

" Huh," Maddie and Rico both said simultaneously as they each raised an eyebrow at Kowalski.

" Kowalski," Skipper groaned as he rubbed the temples on his forehead. " Please stop. You're confusing

people, especially Rico. And he's confused enough as it is." Rico heard what Skipper said and growled at him.

Kowalski waddled away from the group and up to the periscope, which was located across from the bunks.

He peeked through it, waiting for Alice to leave the office.

" So when does Alice leave," Maddie questioned with a shrug. " And what type of animal is she supposed to

be?"

" She's a human," Marlene uttered. " One of those pink animals that you told me about earlier."

" She's one of them," Maddie widened her eyes.

" Affirmative," Skipper stated then turned to Kowalski. " Kowalski? Status report?"

" Alice is now leaving the office," Kowalski retorted then moved away from the periscope. " We can head over

there, right now."

Soon, the penguins and the otters all left the penguin habitat, through the sewer entrance, and began

heading toward the office. When they got to the office, they hopped out of the sewer, and walked up to the

front door. Rico coughed up a spare key, which he had swiped during the time that Max the cat crash landed

into the computer room and tried to hide from Officer X. He handed the key over to Skipper, who was

standing right next to him. Together, the penguins got into a four-height shoulder stand, with Skipper at the

top, and unlocked the door. Next, they opened the door and went inside the office. Inside of the office, there

was a black computer chair, with wheels on it, filing cabinets, shelves covered in paper work, a computer

desk, and a flat-screened computer with a mouse and keyboard attached to it. Kowalski waddled up to it,

turned it on, and started cracking the code to the computer's login system. Rico coughed up a chainsaw;

ready to do what he did the last time Kowalski was having a rough time hacking into the computer. Luckily,

Kowalski was able to crack the code this time and logged onto Alice's profile. From there, he researched the

Huang River. He had already known that it was located in Eastern China, but he needed more information

about the place. Kowalski carefully read the information then recited it to everyone.

" Okay," the tall penguin began. " Apparently there's a reason why Maddie is here and no longer in the wild."

" What is it," Private asked, curiously.

" A Peanut Butter Winkie's factory is going to be installed right along the side of the Huang River, where part

of the Asian Otter population is located," Kowalski retorted in his scientist like tone. " From what else I've

read, the plants and everything near it are going to be either destroyed or relocated to a different area, plus

the river's already been polluted by a toxic run-off somewhere from Beijing, China. How'd it manage to travel

that far, is beyond me."

" Anything else," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" No," Kowalski sighed. " That's all the site says."

" Have you checked to see if any of the zoos got new arrivals from the Huang River area," Marlene

questioned curiously.

" Let me check," Kowalski began typing then came across a page about recent Asian Otter zoo arrivals. "

Wow. That's a lot of otters." He glanced over the pictures of all of the Asian Otters.

" Maddie," Skipper began as he waddled up and stood by the young otter. " Do any of these otters look

familiar to you? Any of them at all?"

Maddie glanced over the pictures, but nobody looked familiar to her. " I don't see them," she stated,

worriedly then lowered her head in melancholy.

" Maybe they forgot to take their pictures or maybe they're on their way to a zoo, right now," Private said,

encouragingly.

" Let me check something else," Kowalski researched more about the Huang River, again. After a few minutes

of searching, he stumbled across some pictures of Asian Otters, who were not even located on the zoo's

websites, but managed to survive what was happening at the river. " Maddie," Kowalski began as he pointed

to a picture. " Do you recognize anybody here?"

Maddie raised her head and glanced over the pictures, until she stumbled across one she recognized. " I

know them," Maddie muttered. " But, they're just friends and next door neighbors."

" Those are your neighbors," Marlene raised an eyebrow as she pointed at the picture with one of her paws.

" Yes," Maddie nodded her head. " They visit my parents all the time. They're really nice."

" If those are your neighbors and they know your parents, maybe they know where they are," Private took a

flipper to his the bottom of his beak.

" Let me check one more thing for a thorough investigation on Maddie's departure," Kowalski then

researched what the area looked like now and pulled up some pictures of otter habitats. Some of them were

collapsed, a few were still standing, and others were flooded by intoxicated river water.

" Hey," Maddie exclaimed as she pointed to one of the pictures that popped up on the screen. " That's where

my parents live, right there." She glanced at a picture of a collapsed habitat. It was kind of hard to tell who's

home belonged to whom, but the young otter could still easily recognize it. Her family's home was covered in

flowers with unique carvings of dragons and lotus blossoms all over the wood on the outside, even though

the walls and the roof were caved inward.

Kowalski, once, again, read the information, out loud. " Collapsed habitats instantly," he stopped when he

saw the final words on the screen. His heart stopped in it's place.

" Instantly what, Kowalski," Skipper raised an eyebrow. " Spit it out."

" I can't," Kowalski mouthed his words in a slight whisper.

" Why not," Skipper shrugged.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Uh. Oh. Something is wrong when Kowalski refuses to give an answer. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 12. Catch Kowalski's answer to Skipper's question. Also. Catch the other characters' reactions to the news. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: I know that Kowalski doesn't really use the periscope like Private and Skipper do, but I felt it best for him to use it in this chapter and story. Also, I do not know when I'll be able to update, again, seeing that I'm going to have mountains of homework to do. So please bare with me. Thank-you for reading this message and thank-you for your patience.


	12. Chapter 12

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were wonderful. Now here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and thank-you for you patience. Warning: Chapter may be revised, again.

Chapter 12

Kowalski motioned for Skipper and the others, except for Maddie, to come closer to him then quietly

whispered into their ears. " I have reason to believe that Maddie's parents were killed." Maddie overheard

what Kowalski had just said then continued listening in on the conversation. She tried not to cry, but at the

same time, she was not letting her parents' death get the best of her. Her father had always told her that

death was a way of life and it helped keep things balanced. Maddie kept that in mind for a while then calmed

down.

" Are you sure," Marlene whispered.

" Yes. It said that collapsed habitats instantly killed all otters, who remained inside and that was one of the

habitats with otters still inside," Kowalski uttered.

" How do you know if they stayed inside," Private questioned. " It's possible it might've been someone else

or the place was empty."

" Doubt it," Kowalski retorted. " Asian Otters have been known to stay inside or run to their own habitats for

safety and comfort."

" Hey. I'm an Asian Otter and I don't always stay inside my habitat for comfort," Marlene stated, defensively.

" Yeah, but you weren't even born in the wild," Kowalski stated. " You're actually more domesticated than

other Asian Otters are, plus you're not in as much danger as they are."

" Oh," Marlene retorted with a raised eyebrow. " So, what are we going to tell Maddie?"

" Tell her the truth and comfort her," Private suggested, causing everyone to turn their heads toward him. "

"Honesty is the best policy."

" I don't know, Private," Skipper rubbed his chin with his flipper. " We don't know how she'll react, seeing

that she's from China. It's possible she might use her martial arts skills on us, or worse, commit suicide."

" Okay," Marlene rolled her eyes. Although she was in love with and dating Skipper, his paranoia still

annoyed her at times." So, who's going to tell Maddie first?"

" That won't be necessary," Maddie stated, quietly from behind the crowd. " I heard the whole thing."

" You did," everyone stuttered with wide eyes.

" Yes," Maddie stated, calmly, still keeping her father's words in her mind.

" And you're okay with what happened to your family," Private raised a confused eyebrow.

" I've always been taught by my father that death is a way of life, balance, and should be respected and

honored as such," Maddie replied, sounding wise. " As a matter of fact, we consider it as a destiny."

" Hold up," Skipper jumped. " A minute ago you wanted to know where your family was and missed them and

now you're spouting out ancient Chinese mumbo jumbo wisdom to us without so much as crying."

" I don't cry, because I have been trained to accept death," Maddie retorted, still calm. " Plus, Chinese

wisdom is very important to have. It has lessons for balancing out life and the chakra."

" What is up with," Skipper began to mutter underneath his breath and lightly slapped his forehead.

" So," Private began, curiously. " Are there any other otters in your family, besides your parents that you

know of, like a cousin or a sibling?"

" I'm afraid not," Maddie replied in a matter-of-fact tone. " The otter clan that I come from only allows two

parents and a child per a family, along with the acception of grandparents."

" Fascinating," Kowalski tapped his chin with his flipper. " You know? I recall hearing something about that

from some other Asian Otters a couple of years, ago. Apparently, they were being held at the zoo for

observations before being returned back to the wild."

" Okay, Maddie," Marlene started as she walked over to Maddie. " Since there's no other family that you

know of, you can stay with me."

" Thanks, Marlene," Maddie smiled then bowed, going to her normal mode. " It would be an honor to be your

guest."

" Actually, you would be honored as my room mate, instead of a guest," Marlene smiled at the young otter.

She then looked over at Skipper, who waddled up to her.

" Marlene," Skipper whispered, feeling worried. " Are you sure that you want to go through with this?"

" Yes, Skipper. I'm sure" Marlene whispered back then raised an eyebrow. " Why?"

" Because from what I've heard raising a child is normally tough for just one animal to handle, which is why

the job requires two," Skipper retorted. " I mean look at the mother duck. She's lucky that Private's here to

help her out, since her husband went AWOL on her and left her to care for her ducklings by herself."

" Actually, Skipper," Kowalski interrupted, overhearing the conversation. " There are plenty of animals out

there that can handle raising kids on their own."

" Name a few," Skipper looked over at Kowalski.

" Well there's," Kowalski thought out loud.

Suddenly, Rico had started to hear noises from outside and began grunting Alice's name. " Retreat," Skipper

gasped. " This is not a drill! I repeat! This is not a drill!" Soon, the penguins and the otters ran up to the

window, which was right next to the computer desk, opened it, and jumped out of it unnoticed, just as Alice

had opened the door and walked into the room.

Alice glanced around the room then scratched the top of her cap. " Funny," she raised an eyebrow. " I

thought I heard noises coming from here. Oh, well." Alice shrugged then left the office.

Meanwhile, the animals had retreated back to the penguins' habitat and began catching their breath as soon

as they got there. " Whew," Kowalski wiped his forehead as he leaned his other flipper on the table. " That

was a close one."

" I'll say," Private panted, doing the same thing. Rico nodded his head, exhaustingly then passed out on the

floor, in front of the doorway.

" Ugh," Skipper groaned, trying to regain his energy. " Any closer than we would've wound up like Manfreedy

and Johnson, except for the whole being torn to shreds by the flying piranha part."

" Who's Manfreedy and Johnson," Maddie raised an eyebrow.

" I'm afraid that's classified," Skipper retorted as he regained his energy back. He then turned to Marlene,

who was hunched over, holding onto her knees, and breathing quite awkwardly, " Marlene," Skipper's voice

became concerned. " Are you alright?"

" No," Marlene wheezed as asthma started taking over her. " Can you get me my inhaler, please?"

" Okay," Skipper raised an eyebrow, knowing what Marlene's problem was. " Where is it? I thought you were

supposed to have it on you at all times."

" I think I accidentally left it under my pillow, in my habitat. Now please hurry," Marlene coughed, suddenly

feeling weak.

" Men," Skipper stated, trying to restrain the panicky tone in his voice, as he picked up Marlene, bridal style

then looked at his team. " We'll be right back."

" Where are you two going," Private shouted, questionably as Skipper and Marlene began heading toward

the door, which they had just entered through and rushed through it.

" I'll explain later," Skipper shouted back as he ran down the hallway. " Just wait here, until we get back and

keep an eye on Maddie!"

________________________________________________________________________________________

Aww. Poor Maddie. She lost her parents. Luckily, Marlene is willing to step up and help take care of her. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 13. Catch the action after Skipper and Marlene leave the penguin habitat to get the inhaler. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: If anybody is out of character, I apologize for it. Also, if I'm off track with the Chinese facts or if I offended anybody, I apologize for that, too. But, it is fanfiction, after all. Thank-you for reading this message.


	13. Chapter 13

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were wonderful. Now here's the next chapter. Warning: This chapter may be revised, again. BTW: There are going to be two more chapters left after this one(Chapter 14 and 15). Plus, I'm thinking about writing a sequel to this sequel. I'll explain what it's about, possibly at the end of Chapter 14, along with the story title. Thank-you for reading this message. Anyways. Please enjoy.

Chapter 13

Soon, he and Marlene had entered the sewer part of the passageway and went toward Marlene's habitat.

After they had reached the habitat, Skipper took Marlene, who was now going unconscious, but was still

wheezing, inside her cave, through the manhole entrance. As soon as they were inside the cave, Skipper

rushed Marlene to the couch, which was near her bed, and set her down in a sleeping position. Next he

supported her head with a bag of popcorn then ran over and began searching underneath the pillow of

Marlene's bed, until he found her inhaler. After finding the inhaler, Skipper took it over to Marlene, removed

the cap off of it, and stuck the opened part of it in her mouth. Next, he squeezed the top of it, which had a

container of medicine in it, and caused it to pour out into Marlene's mouth. Next, Skipper waited patiently for

the medicine to react. About a few minutes later, Marlene had stopped wheezing and regained

consciousness. After she had regained consciousness, she looked over at Skipper, who was still holding her

inhaler in his flipper, which was now hanging by his side. He was looking down at the ground with a worried

expression on his face and tears in his eyes. The lead penguin thought that she was not going to survive.

Marlene grunted to get Skipper's attention. Skipper looked up at her, widened his eyes, then wiped the tears

out of them. " Marlene," he reached over and hugged Marlene, causing her to hug him back. " You're alright.

Thank salmon."

" Of course, I'm alright," Marlene retorted, questionably. " Why wouldn't I be? After all, it was just an asthma

attack. I get them every time I do hardcore running. Don't you remember me telling you that earlier during

our walk?"

" Yes, I do remember," Skipper pulled away from Marlene. " But still, you could've died, Marlene."

" But, I didn't," Marlene smiled. " And look at it this way, we are now even Steven."

" Even Steven," Skipper raised an eyebrow as Marlene moved into a sitting position. " For what?"

" I've saved your life and now you've saved mine," Marlene then giggled. " See? Even Steven?"

" Oh," Skipper chuckled. " Marlene, can I ask you a quick question?"

" Sure," Marlene shrugged. " Go ahead."

" May I help you take care of Maddie," Skipper looked into Marlene's eyes. " I mean, if you don't mind?"

" Of course, Skipper," Marlene grinned. " I could use the extra help."

" Thanks Marlene," Skipper smiled as he slipped Marlene's inhaler into one of her paws then kissed her on

the cheek. " Come on. We better get back to the HQ, before everyone gets even more worried about us."

The two jumped off of the couch and headed straight for the sewer exit of the habitat.

Meanwhile, at the penguins' habitat, everyone was pacing around, waiting for Skipper and Marlene to return.

" I hope they're all right," Private quivered.

" Same here," Kowalski sighed then looked up at the clock. It was four forty-nine in the afternoon. "

According to my calculations they should've been back two point four minutes, ago."

" Kowalski," Maddie tugged on the tall penguin's flipper. " What was happening to Marlene?"

" I don't know, Maddie," Kowalski moaned. " All I know is that Skipper had to carry her back to the otter

habitat."

" Oh," Maddie retorted. Soon, Skipper and Marlene had entered the penguin habitat, holding appendages.

" Skipper! Marlene," Private ran up to the two and gave them a hug. " You're all right! What happened?"

" Asthma attack," Marlene grunted, trying to breath. " That's what happened."

" Asthma attack," Kowalski raised an eyebrow. " You have Asthma?"

" Yep," Skipper answered for Marlene. " I know. I was shocked when I found out about it, too."

" So, that's what this was all about," Maddie shrugged. " An Asthma Attack?"

" Yes," Marlene nodded her head as she and Skipper released each other's grips.

" Whew," Maddie wiped her forehead. " I'm glad I'm not the only otter here who has those."

" You get them, too," Marlene raised an eyebrow.

" Yes, and I know of an old Chinese recipe that can help reduce your Asthma attacks," Maddie smiled.

" Such as," Marlene shrugged.

" My mommy's mandarin tea," Maddie smiled widely.

" Do you even know the recipe," Marlene tilted her head.

" Of course," Maddie retorted. " My mommy told me the ingredients so that I could make it by myself."

" That's great," Marlene smiled. " Can you show me?"

Meanwhile, Skipper and Kowalski got caught up in their own conversation, while Private and Rico remained by

the otters. " So, Skipper," Kowalski began. " You've actually convinced Marlene to let you help her raise

Maddie?"

" Affirmative," Skipper stated with the smile. " She said that she needed the extra help. Besides, who else is

going to protect Maddie from the boys when she's older?"

" True," Kowalski chuckled a bit. " Although, Marlene is perfectly capable of defending her herself, even

though she does have Asthma."

" I know," Skipper uttered. " But you know me, Kowalski. I'm defensive. Ever since my family was taken away

from me, I've always had this urge to help protect those who were close to me."

" That's probably your survival and alpha male instinct kicking in at the same time," Kowalski retorted in a

matter-of-fact tone. " It's quite natural."

" Gee, you think," Skipper raised an eyebrow then glanced up at the clock. " Aren't you supposed to be on a

date with Doris?"

" Doris," Kowalski glanced up at the clock, too. It was already five o' five in the afternoon. " Oh sweet mercy,"

the tall penguin shouted then ran through the door to the sewer entrance. " I'm late! See ya!"

" What was that all about," Private raised an eyebrow.

" Kowalski's late for his date," Skipper sighed.

" I hope that she's not too angry with him," Private trembled. " After all he does have a reasonable excuse."

" True," Skipper responded then smiled over at Marlene and Maddie. Maddie was trying to teach Marlene a

traditional Chinese dance, along with how to make her mother's mandarin tea. Skipper could not help, but

chuckle at the two as they practiced, performed, and made the tea at the same time.

Private glanced between Skipper and the two otters. " Skipper," the young penguin turned to his leader. "

Now that you and Marlene are taking care of Maddie, does this mean that she's been adopted?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Aww. Skipper's offered to help Marlene take care of Maddie. How sweet. Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 14. Catch Skipper's answer to Private's question. Also. Find out how Kowalski's date goes with Doris. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: Sorry there really wasn't much " action" at the beginning of this chapter. The only reason I put that word there was, because I couldn't think of any other word to describe it at the time. Thank-you for reading this message.


	14. Chapter 14

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were wonderful. Now here's the next chapter. Please enjoy and thank-you for your patience. BTW: This is the second to the last chapter and it may be revised, again.

Chapter 14

" Sort of," Skipper hesitated as he turned his head to Private. " There's still a matter of getting it notarized

by the chimps."

" So as soon as it's notarized, you and Marlene would be like Maddie's new momma and daddy," Private

grinned from ear to ear.

" I don't know if I would use the terms momma and daddy, just yet," Skipper sighed. " Besides. The kid just

barely got here. She needs to adjust."

" Okay," Private nodded his head. Soon, a couple of hours flew by and Kowalski came back into the HQ. His

eyes were wide open with a blank expression on his beak. He stiffly waddled over to his bunk and climbed

into it. Kowalski faced the front of his body toward the wall, while laying down on his left side.

Skipper, who was watching _Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior_ with the others, waddled over and climbed up

the ladder, until he reached the top bunk. " Hey, Kowalski," he stated, cheerfully, but curiously. " How'd

things go with you and Doris?" Kowalski remained still, not uttering a single word. " Kowalski," Skipper's

voice filled with concern as he frowned. " Are you all right?"

" Just leave me alone," Kowalski sighed as his voice stammered. " I really don't want to talk to anybody,

right now."

" So, I take it that things didn't go well between you and Doris tonight," Skipper's voice quieted. Kowalski did

not answer with his words. Instead, he responded by sniffling. " That bad, huh," he mumbled then hoisted

himself onto the edge of Kowalski's bunk. Skipper sat down as he dangled his feet over the edge. He let out

a sigh before speaking, again. " Look, Kowalski," Skipper uttered. " Since you were there for me when I was

having problems with Marlene and Lola, I'll be here for you now. Okay?" The only thing that he heard back

from Kowalski was sobbing. " I take it you agree," he half whispered as he looked over at Kowalski. Kowalski

still had his back turned toward him. He covered his eyes and started sobbing even louder. Skipper, who did

not like to see or hear others cry, reached his right flipper toward Kowalski. He rested it on the tall intellect's

right shoulder to comfort him, but instead it spooked him.

" Skipper," Kowalski looked over his shoulder, revealing his teary, red eyes. " Don't sneak up on me like

that."

" Sorry," Skipper's eyebrows raised as he pulled his flipper away. " Just thought that you needed some

consolation."

" What are you doing up here, anyway," Kowalski sat up and wiped the tears out of his eyes. " I thought I

told you that I wanted to be left alone."

" You did," Skipper leaned back a little toward the foot of the bunk. " But as hurt as you are right now, I

won't allow it. So, what happened?"

" Well I arrived ten minutes late at Doris', she yelled at me for it, forgave me after I told her what had

happened then we began our dinner date," Kowalski choked. " And during our dinner date, Doris got a

walkie-talkie call then left to the other side of her tank, under the water, to answer it. I sat at the table,

waiting for forty-five minutes then dived into the tank to see if she was all right. When I got there, I heard

her speaking to a man on the other end of the talkie. I swam closer to listen in on the conversation.

Apparently, Doris had been working for Dr. Blowhole this whole time. I curled my flippers into fists then

listened in more to see if I could find out any more information. It turned out that Doris was actually Dr.

Blowhole's daughter. After finding that out, I jumped out of the tank and sat down at the table, feeling both

devastated and confused. About a few minutes later, Doris had resurfaced, apologized for the long wait then

continued our date. At the end of our date, Doris mentioned something about leaving somewhere. That's

when I grew angry at her, but chose to hide how I felt by saying 'okay' in a joyful kind of tone. From there, I

just came back here."

" Whoa! I can not believe it," Skipper widened his eyes then slapped his forehead with his flipper. " Why

didn't I see this earlier?"

" See what earlier," Kowalski continued wiping his eyes then pushed himself toward the edge of his bunk.

" That Doris is Dr. Blowhole's daughter," Skipper raised his voice. " I should've seen it coming."

" And I should've listened to you the first time you told me that Doris didn't like me like me," Kowalski sighed

as he rested his head on his flippers. " If I had done just that, I wouldn't be like this, right now."

" Hey. Thanks to you actually going over to Doris', we now have a link to my dolphin nemesis," Skipper

patted Kowalski on the back with one of his flippers. " We can actually stop him, now."

" But we don't know where he is," Kowalski raised an eyebrow. " Besides, I'm not going."

" Kowalski," Skipper stated in a firm, but soft tone. " I can understand you not going, but you have a duty."

" I know," Kowalski rolled his eyes. " But we still need the coordinates. It's not like they're going to just fall

out of the sky or appear out of thin air."

" No," Skipper then tapped the bottom of his beak. " But we can follow Doris. After all she knows where Dr.

Blowhole is."

" True," Kowalski muttered then raised his voice a bit. " Skipper?"

" Yeah, Kowalski," Skipper retorted, feeling unsure.

" Could you please not mention Doris' name, right now," Kowalski moaned. " It makes my stomach and

everything do flips every time I hear it. Not to mention that it makes me angry and teary at the same time."

" Can do," Skipper nodded his head. " But you do know you'll have to face her sooner or later, right?"

" I don't think I can ever face her, again after what I found out about her," Kowalski growled as he folded his

flippers and turned away. " She was nothing, but a big phony who was planted here to trick me into giving

away my inventions to her father." He sighed before speaking, again. " I feel like such a big idiot for

believing that she actually liked me," Kowalski mumbled. " You know? Liked me, liked me."

" Kowalski," Skipper stuttered, but was having trouble finding which words to say to him. " I'm sorry. Look. If

it makes you feel better, I never knew that Dr. Blowhole had a daughter, let alone found a dame. I mean it's

kind of funny if you think about it. Dr. Blowhole? A deranged villain focused on destroying the sun? Manages

to have a family? That's hilarious." The lead penguin chuckled as he lightly elbowed Kowalski's left upper

flipper.

" To you. Yeah," Kowalski groaned with the same emotion as he had before. " But to me? It's…I don't know

what to think. I mean, I thought I found the right woman. I really did. I guess love just isn't my thing. Or

other than that I'm a terrible judge of character."

" Kowalski," Skipper rolled his eyes. " I can see two things wrong with your statement. One. You're the one

who helped me get over Lola, so that I could date Marlene. And two. If you were a terrible judge of

character, you wouldn't have the friends that you have now."

" True," Kowalski uttered. " But I'm not as observant as I used to be. I let Doris have one of my inventions

without even analyzing her family background. You see, while I was making that music box, I had added a

voice recording feature, a voice password frequency, and a three-inch high nuclear laser security system,

which could vaporize any living organism within three feet within the box's range. If I hadn't have added

any of that stuff then maybe I wouldn't be freaking out like this and maybe…maybe, I wouldn't be hurting as

bad about Doris."

" Kowalski," Skipper sighed. " Any woman that you fall in love with that breaks your heart will make you feel

the same amount of pain no matter what. I know. I've been down that road several times."

" I know," Kowalski glanced at Skipper with a smirk. " I was there for all of those times. You were a living

nightmare with sprinklers for eyes."

" Like you're being right now," Skipper smirked back as he folded his flippers. Kowalski giggled, frowned then

turned his head away.

" Here," Kowalski pulled something out from behind his back. " Take this." He was holding his clipboard out

toward Skipper with his left flipper.

" Kowalski," Skipper frowned as he pushed Kowalski's flipper away with one of his flippers. " No. I'm not

letting you do this. It's not worth it."

" If it means avoiding Doris at all costs then so be it," Kowalski lowered his voice.

" Kowalski," Skipper uttered. " I understand what you're feeling right now, but quitting the team and running

away isn't going to solve your problem."

" No," Kowalski scoffed. " But it can help me avoid my problem."

" Yes, but for how long," Skipper shrugged. " Kowalski, sooner or later, you're going to have to face it head

on. Just like what you told me to do."

" Skipper, you sincerely are one of my truest friends," Kowalski smirked as he glanced at the lead penguin. "

And I appreciate you trying to help, but I've already made up my mind. I'm not coming back. So, please take

my clipboard. Please?" He tried handing over his clipboard, again with a desperate look on his face.

This time, Skipper flinched in defeat. " Fine," he whispered, mournfully as he took the clipboard out of

Kowalski's flipper. " I'll take it. But where are you planning on leaving to?"

" I don't know," Kowalski muttered. " My parents' place, I guess? That is if I could locate it."

" Want me to come with you," Skipper questioned. " You know, just to make sure that you find a new home

safely?"

________________________________________________________________________________________

Oh. No. Kowalski's leaving the team? No! This can not be happening! Anyways. Coming up next in Chapter 15, which is going to be the final chapter to this story. Catch Kowalski's answer to Skipper's question. Also, see how everyone else reacts to Kowalski's departure. Please stay tuned and find out more. BTW: I'm planning on typing a sequel to this sequel. It will be titled " Kowalski Gone MIA: Missing in Action". The reason why I'm making it a sequel to this sequel, because this story is going to be drifting onto a new focus. Don't worry there will be Skilene in it. Anyways, thank-you for reading this message.


	15. Chapter 15

" The Skipper, the Marlene, and the Ups and Downs"

Thanks for the reviews everyone. They were fantastic. Now here's the final chapter before I start off the sequel to the sequel " Kowalski Gone MIA: Missing in Action". I'm not sure when it'll be up, but I'm hoping to post it soon. Thank-you for reading this message. Please enjoy. Warning: Chapter may be revised, again.

Chapter 15

" No thanks," Kowalski uttered. " Besides, the team needs you here. You're the leader."

" You know this team won't be the same without you, right," Skipper mumbled.

" I know," Kowalski whispered then looked over at the group. They were still watching the movie. " What are

they watching," The tall penguin raised an eyebrow as he saw two girls fighting each other. One of the girls,

who was possessed by an evil spirit called Yen Lao, was leading an army of terracotta warriors.

" _Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior_," Skipper stated as he turned his head toward the television. " It's kind

of new. Came out a few years, ago." The lead penguin then turned his head back to Kowalski. " Anyways,"

he began. " Good luck, Kowalski."

" I'm going to miss you, Skipper," Kowalski then shrugged. " As a matter of fact, I'm going to miss everyone

here, except Doris and Julien."

" I'm going to miss you, too, Kowalski," Skipper sighed. " You know, you were the first one I was proud to

call one of my best friends. So, when do you plan on leaving?"

" Before you wake up," Kowalski muttered. " Actually, I'm planning on leaving after everyone goes to bed."

" Without even saying good-bye," Skipper raised an eyebrow.

" It would be better that way," Kowalski retorted. " Besides, you'll have to give them the message in the

morning, anyway. So, you can include my good-bye in that."

" Kowalski," Skipper mumbled. " Your good-bye won't mean the same coming from me."

" All right," Kowalski sighed. " I'll tell them before bedtime then."

" Like it is now," Skipper retorted as he sat the clipboard down at the end of the bunk.

" Yeah," Kowalski whispered underneath his breath. " Like it is now." He hopped off the side of his bunk and

onto the floor. Skipper followed and waddled over to the group.

When the two penguins reached the group and stood in front of the television, Skipper coughed into his

flipper. " May we have your attention, please?" The group moved their heads up to look at Skipper and

Kowalski, ready to listen to what they were going to say. " Thank-you," Skipper then whispered to Kowalski.

" Okay, Kowalski. You're on."

" All right," Kowalski whispered back then took a deep breath before making his announcement. He spoke

slowly as his voice faltered. " It has come to my attention that I can no longer be the strategies expert,"

Kowalski then paused, waiting for the group's reaction.

" Kowalski," Private smiled. " You know there are plenty of more tasks that you can do for the team, that are

much better than being the strategies expert."

" It's not that I don't like being the strategies expert," Kowalski retorted. " It's just that I'm resigning my

position effective immediately and quitting the team for reasonable circumstances."

" Reasonable circumstances," Marlene raised an eyebrow then looked over at Skipper.

" Don't look at me," Skipper put his flippers in front of himself. " It was his decision, not mine."

" But, Kowalski," Private squeaked. " You can't leave. The team needs you to help protect the zoo."

" Not anymore," Kowalski moaned. " Besides, you'll be better off without me."

" But, Kowal," Private whimpered, but was cut off.

" Nuh-uh," Kowalski shook one of his flippers in front of himself. " I don't want to hear it. Anyway, that's all I

wanted to say. Good luck finding a new lieutenant and strategies expert." He turned then began waddling

over to the door, which led to the sewer entrance. Right when he was about to open the door, something

grabbed his flipper. He whirled around to find Maddie standing right behind him.

" Kowalski," Maddie stated, trying to be reasonable. " Please don't go. Private's right. Your team needs you."

" Maddie," Kowalski glanced at the otter. " I'm sorry, but I have to go for the good of the team's well being.

Bye." He turned around, opened the door, and waddled halfway through it. Kowalski lowered his head,

sighed, and wiped a tear out of one of his eyes then continued going into the hallway. As soon as he

entered the hallway, he turned around and closed the door behind him. From there, he began his journey,

knowing what he was leaving behind.

The HQ remained quiet for several minutes as the group stared at the door that Kowalski had left through.

Marlene, who was still sitting, looked up at Skipper. She noticed that he had tears forming in his eyes.

Marlene sat up, walked over to Skipper, and wrapped her arms around his neck. " I'm going to miss him,

too," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes as well.

" I can not believe that Kowalski quit the team over this," Skipper muttered to himself as he tried holding his tears back.

Marlene heard him then loosened her arms to look at Skipper's face. " Quit the team over what," she raised

an eyebrow.

" Yeah, Skipper," Private wiped the tears out of his eyes then waddled up to the couple. " Why did he quit?

He's always enjoyed being with us. So what was the problem?"

" You might all want to sit down for this," Skipper raised his voice a bit,. " Because what I'm about to tell you

may shock you." Everyone nodded then sat down. Skipper began telling everyone Kowalski's reason and

when he was done, the whole group had their eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

" Wow," Marlene squeaked. " I can not believe it. Kowalski quit all because he accidentally gave some lasery

music box to Doris who is Dr. Blowhole's daughter? That's no reason to quit."

" I know," Skipper groaned.

" I don't understand, Skipper," Private shrugged. " Why didn't you stop him?"

" I tried," Skipper sighed. " But Kowalski already made up his mind and there was nothing else I could do to

change that."

" Stubborn," Rico grunted.

" So," Private began. " If Kowalski is no longer our lieutenant and strategies expert then who will be?"

" I don't know," Skipper stated in a half confident tone.

" I'll volunteer," Marlene spoke up, causing the group to stare at her.

" Can you come up with plans right on the fly, come up with calculations, and build what we need for our

missions," Skipper blurted out at his girlfriend.

" Yea-no," Marlene hesitated.

" What about me," Maddie squeaked as she rushed up to the group. " I can come up with calculations and

strategies, plus I can whip up a few inventions if you need them."

" I don't know, Maddie," Skipper raised an eyebrow. " You're kind of young to join an elite force."

" Please," Maddie smiled.

Skipper looked over at Marlene, who urged him to answer Maddie. " Okay," he sighed. " But try to be careful,

alright?"

" Alright," Maddie stated, cheerfully.

" A word of advice," Skipper stared at the otter. " When on duty, you are to answer " Yes, Sir" or " No, Sir" to

me. Okay?"

" Okay," Maddie retorted then saluted him. " I mean, yes, Sir."

" Perfecto," Skipper smiled at the salute. " You'll do just fine."

" Skipper," Maddie chimed. " When off duty, do you still want me to call you Sir or would you prefer that I call

you Skipper, Uncle Skipper, or Daddy?"

" You can call me any of those, except for the last one," Skipper stated as his body flinched. He was not

really comfortable with being called the last one, seeing that Maddie was not really his daughter, plus she

was more under Marlene's guardianship, seeing that they were both otters.

" Why not the last one," Maddie questioned. " What's wrong with it?"

" Nothing," Skipper shrugged. " I'd just rather be called something that doesn't make me feel weird, right

now." Now that he thought of it, he would not mind being called Daddy, but it just did not seem right to try

and replace someone who had been lost.

" Skipper," Marlene whispered into one of his ears. " Let her call you Daddy. Some of the orphaned pups at

the aquarium I lived at use to call me Momma."

" Marlene," Skipper turned to Marlene and whispered, back. " If we were playing _House_, I wouldn't mind."

" Come on," Marlene smiled then leaned close to Skipper's face, batted her eyelashes, and clasped her paws

together. " Please? I'm letting Maddie call me Momma."

Skipper blushed then groaned. " Alright," he stammered. " She can call me Daddy, but not on duty." Marlene

stepped back and raised a cocky eyebrow at him. She had ways of making Skipper listen to her and that was

one of them. Skipper's face quickly turned back to normal, afterwards.

Marlene then folded her arms. " Thank-you," she stated with a smirk.

Suddenly, a figure knocked on one of the portholes of the HQ. The group quickly climbed out through the

fishbowl entrance to see who it was. It was Doris the dolphin who was holding onto the music box that

Kowalski had given to her. " Kowalski's in trouble," she wheezed out in a rushed and worried tone.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Oh. No. Kowalski's in trouble? Not good. Not good at all. Anywho, I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story and/or added it to their favorites. I would also like to give full credit to the creators of the POM for their characters and the scenery of the park and zoo. The restaurant, Ramone, and Maddie all belong to me as my O/C's. Anyone is more than welcomed to use them for their stories, if they want, but must ask for my permission first, before doing so, please. For those who have been reading " In the Not Too Distant Future" and " Days with the Downfeathers", I would like to point out that those and this story are not connected in anyway. There really is no continuity, since I haven't really practiced it, let alone considered it. Also, Maddie in " ItNTDF" was not named after the Maddie in this story. The reason why there are two Maddies is because I liked the name and I couldn't think of another one, until several days ago. BTW: Thanks Grandoldpenguin for bringing that up. I hope that I answered your questions. Anyways. Thank-you for reading this message.


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